Consequences: A Jimmy Neutron Time Travel Epic
by Snazzo
Summary: Jimmy decides to take the gang to confront the greatest villain of all time: Adolf Hitler. But in History, the smallest changes can have huge Consequences. A story of action, humor, twisted history, and surprises. Reviews and comments welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Consequences

A Jimmy Neutron Time Travel Epic

By Snazzo

"Time travel is like a box of chocolates … you never know what you're gonna get."

Chapter One:

Consequences

By Snazzo

"You may wonder why I've gathered you all here," Jimmy said, rocking back and forward on his heels as he stood in his lab, wearing his labcoat.

"Is it threaten our lives with your ridiculous inventions time again?" Cindy asked. She and Libby laughed.

"No!" Jimmy said.

"That's okay Jimmy," Sheen said. "Its been a week since our last life threatening adventure."

"Up until now, for the most part, I've used my genius just to have fun," Jimmy explained. "Of course I saved the world a couple times too."

"Oh yeah!" Libby snorted. "I had loads of fun being deleted!"

Cindy agreed. "And I had loads of fun being sucked into outer space by a giant tornado!"

"I vote for the Malibu Death Machine!" Carl declared.

"Not me!" Sheen said. "I liked being threatened by Robofiend. That was awesome!"

"Come on guys, listen!" Jimmy said. "This could very well be our most important and historical adventure yet! I have decided that it is time to use my genius for the benefit of all mankind. To that end, we are about to embark on an epic journey to confront one of the greatest villains of all time!"

"Robofiend?" Sheen asked.

"King Goobot?" Carl asked.

"The guy who invented algebra?" Libby asked.

"Oo, I know. That annoying guy on American Idol!" Cindy said.

"No, no, no!" Jimmy exclaimed. "I am talking about none other than that mad man, Adolf Hitler."

"Adolf Hitler?" Sheen asked. "Who's he?"

"Sheen!" Libby said. "Were you asleep during history? Miss Fowl has been talking about World War Two for two weeks now."

"Oh yeah, World War Two," Sheen said. "Man, they had some awesome battles! I really liked the Battle of Midway." Sheen made a rat-a-tat sound and then mimicked a bomber diving.

"Sheen!" Jimmy said. "Its no joking mater! World War Two was perhaps the greatest calamity of the last century. Destruction of most of Europe, great parts of northern Africa, China, Japan, the Far East, and half of Russia. The cost was in the millions, if not billions. The loss of life was staggering. Whole cities reduced to rubble. To say nothing of the Holocaust. And Adolf Hitler was almost single handily responsible for it all."

"But Jimmy, what can we do about that?" Cindy asked. "We're just kids, and that was years ago. Grandpa landed in Normandy, and he met grandma at a celebration back home when the war was over. VE Day I think it was called. I mean, we won after all, isn't that good enough?"

"Yeah Jimmy," Libby agreed. "Miss Fowl called it the 'Good war.'"

"No! Its not good enough! If I can prevent World War Two from ever happening I'm sure the world will be much better off. We may even have a utopia by now, if so many resources and so much manpower hadn't been wasting fighting a war."

"What's a utopia Jim?" Sheen asked.

"A utopia is a perfect society. Can you imagine it? No disease, no war, no ecological damage, no pollution, everyone educated, clothed, working, productive and happy."

"And guacamole bars?" Sheen asked.

"Who can say Sheen?" Jimmy said.

"And just how are we going to go after Hitler?" Cindy asked, then answered her own question. "Oh no Jimmy, no! Not time travel!"

"Yes! Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Temporal And Relocation Displacement System. Or Tardis, for short." Jimmy unveiled a large car that looked remarkably like the Astrocar.

"It looks remarkably like the Astrocar we won from Meldar," Carl said.

"It is! But now I've incorporated the temporal mechanics, tachyon generators, and paradox prevention protocols into it. I had to repair it some after Cindy threw it across the city."

"Man, it looks like the Delorean in Back to the Future!" Sheen said.

"It's perfect, for we'll have to do a lot of traveling. The Chrono-Arch needed two to work, you may recall, and the Time Pincher would be too cramped for all of us."

"Jimmy!" Cindy complained. "When has time travel ever worked for us? Don't you remember all the trouble that happened when you brought Thomas Edison into the present?"

"Yeah Jim," Carl agreed. "We were stuck on the Bat Outta Heck for seven hours."

"That was awesome!" Sheen exclaimed. "I was dizzy for a week and I kept passing out!"

"And don't forget the Copbot," Libby said. "Sheen explained it all to me in his book. And that stupid Copbot destroyed my house."

"Yeah Jimmy, I thought you said that when the Copbot disappeared all the damage he did would be undone too, because he never existed in the first place," Cindy said.

"Well it sure didn't," Carl said. "We were cleaning Libby's house for two days."

"I can't explain that guys," Jimmy said. "Maybe the Copbot had paradox prohibitors, and dimensional stabilizers. In any event, the Tardis is perfectly safe. So let's go make history."

"All right! I hope we see D-Day," Sheen said. "We totally kicked the German's butts."

"I don't know Jimmy," Cindy said. "It still seems very dangerous."

"Come on guys, what could possibly go wrong? Think about it, we'll be responsible for saving millions of lives."

"So what are we going to do anyway?" Libby asked. "Kidnap Hitler and send him back to the Cretaceous period? He deserves to be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"I move we pop him in the nose," Carl said.

"And get rid of that ridiculous mustache. He look like Charlie Chaplin!"

"No, I have an even better idea. Hitler attempted a coup now known as the Beer Hall Putsch. In 1923, long before the war, Hitler tried to set up a new German government. He was arrested for high treason and thrown in jail for five years at a place called Landsberg Prison. He was pardoned though, and the rest they say, is history. My idea is this: Just keep him in prison. Give him a life sentence. No Hitler in charge of Nazi Germany, no World War Two. It's foolproof! And we don't even have to resort to violence."

"Well, I guess that does make a little bit of sense," Cindy reluctantly agreed.

"Everyone into the TARDIS," Jimmy said and the all climbed in, including Goddard. "Time: June 1, 1924. Place: Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany. History, here we come!"

The Tardis shot out of the top of Jimmy's clubhouse and disappeared in an explosion of temporal energies.


	2. Chapter 2

Consequences

By Snazzo

Chapter Two

Jimmy landed the TARDIS in the outskirts of Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany. "I'm glad the astrocar came with optional cloaking device." He pushed a button on the keychain and the car faded away. "That's so no one can steal the time machine and leave us stranded. Everyone remember where we parked!"

The gang wandered into the town. "Goddard, locate the Landsberg Prison." Goddard lifted his head up and a scanner appeared on his chest. After a moment directions came out. The gang followed the directions to a grim looking brick building in the west end of Landsberg am Lech.

"We're here to see the warden," Jimmy told one of the guards standing at the gate.

"Ich verstehe nicht," the guard responded. "Sprechen Sie Deutsches?"

"Goddard, generate a translation field." Goddard barked, an antenna came out of his back, and he began to hum. "Oh, and Goddard, better activate canine holograph program thirty-seven." Goddard shimmered and a holographic projection of a real dog replaced his appearance. "We're here to see the warden," Jimmy repeated.

"Is that so?" the guard asked. "Why on earth would Warden von Roon want to see you young ones?"

"Because we're from the future!" Sheen declared.

Jimmy put his hand over Sheen's mouth. "What he means to say, is we're from … France, not the future. And we're touring this beautiful city, and – er – we were hoping to get a tour of this beautiful prison."

The guard looked unimpressed.

"No, I'm sorry," Cindy said. "We can't lie to you. Our teacher is having us do a report on great figures in German history. And we think there is no one greater than Warden von Roon."

The guard grinned at that. "How excellent! Warden von Roon would love to talk to you, I'm sure. Walk this way please." The guard led them into the prison, down several corridor's, and into the warden's office. "Some children to see you, Warden von Roon," the guard said and departed.

Warden von Roon was a thin, balding man with glasses. He sat behind an immense desk with papers neatly stacked upon it. File cabinets and bookcases filled up the room, and on one wall was a painting of Chancellor Friedrich Ebert. "Good afternoon, children. What can I do for you? And what on earth brings you to a prison when you should be outside playing?"

"That's a good question," Sheen said.

"We're here to save the world," Carl added.

"Carl!" Jimmy said.

"You said so!" Carl protested.

"We need to talk to you about one of your inmates," Jimmy explained.

"Who?" Warden von Roon asked.

"Adolf Hitler," Jimmy answered.

"Ah, yes, that funny little man," Warden von Roon said. "He's our star inmate. Do you know he gets fan mail every day? He's writing a book as well. He apparently has great plans for Germany, and for himself."

"Its about those plans we must talk about," Jimmy said. "Hitler must not be let out of prison. Keep him here and the world will be a better place for it."

"Outrageous!" von Roon declared. "He's only got a five year sentence. And I think he may be pardoned soon, in any event."

"Who cares?" Libby said. "Just leave him in here!"

"Young lady," von Roon said. "That would be immoral and against the law."

"But you don't understand," Jimmy said desperately. "Adolf Hitler will go on to become one of the most horrible villains the world has ever seen. He will be responsible for the deaths of thousands if not millions of people!"

"Why on earth should I believe a little boy with such a huge head?" von Roon asked. "You're talking nonsense! I've read a little of that Hitler's book, and I've heard some of his speeches. Quite charismatic. He believes the German people have been wronged, and he's going to make that wrong right!"

Jimmy ground his teeth in frustration. Cindy suddenly said "Warden von Roon, if you can spare the time, we would love if you showed us around this fascinating prison of yours. A little tour maybe? And you can tell us all about your hard work in protecting us from these criminals, we'd love to hear about it."

"We would?" Sheen asked.

"We're writing a report for our teacher," Cindy continued, ignoring Sheen. "I don't think we've said that. Its all about the great men of Germany, such as yourself."

The warden beamed at Cindy and stood up.

"Cindy?" Jimmy asked her. "What are you doing?"

"If you want to do this thing, Jimmy, follow my lead," Cindy said in an undertone.

"Well, I really can't believe a bunch of children would like to see a dreary old prison," von Roon said, "But I'd be happy to give you a tour, my dear."

"Jimmy," Cindy whispered to Jimmy, "you once told me your watch generates holograms, right?"

"Yes," Jimmy told her. The warden came around from his desk and held open the door.

"Then make it project an image of you and me and have them go on the tour. We stay in the office," Cindy whispered again. "Look Warden!" Cindy exclaimed out loud, "A dinosaur!"

"What, where?" von Roon said, looking out into the hall.

"Now, Neutron!" Cindy said, grabbing Jimmy by the hand and pulling him behind the desk. Jimmy stabbed at his watch and a holographic Cindy and Jimmy appeared in the room.

"I don't see any dinosaur, young lady," von Roon said.

"My mistake, sir," the holographic Cindy said. "It was just a fat guard."

Von Roon laughed at that. "Come, follow me." The gang left; Sheen looked dismal at the thought of a boring tour, and Libby and Carl looked confused, but the holographic Jimmy and Cindy looked alert and eager. Von Roon closed the door to his office and the real Jimmy and Cindy stood up.

"I'm the genius here, Cindy," Jimmy complained.

"Hey, I thought you long ago agreed I have valuable contributions to make to our relationship!"

"Relationship?" Jimmy asked, blushing.

Cindy blushed in return. "Friendship, I mean."

"What do we do now?" Jimmy asked.

"Use that big brain of yours Neutron," Cindy said. "Hitler's files must be in one of those file cabinets. We find it, give him a life sentence, and he's done with."

"Cindy!" Jimmy exclaimed. "That just might work! You're brilliant!"

Cindy blushed again. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Jimmy."

Jimmy and Cindy searched through the file cabinets and soon found Hitler's file. The cabinets were well organized. Jimmy thumbed through the file "That's strange, it says he's a model prisoner. And von Roon was right, he does get a lot of fan mail! Here I thought he was just a raving lunatic." Jimmy put the file down on the desk. He took out a Neutronic eraser and erased the ink of the sentence. "Here you go Cindy, you have better hand writing than I." He handed Cindy a pen off the desk. "But for goodness sakes, don't dot your eyes with little hearts."

Cindy wrote carefully. "Adolf Hitler. Life sentence with no possibility of parole." They put the file back where they found it.

"Think about Cindy," Jimmy said. "You just saved ten, maybe twenty million people."

"I hope so Jimmy," Cindy replied.

The two of them left the office and joined up with the gang in the very exciting prison laundry. Jimmy turned off the holograms. Poor Sheen looked like he was about to fall over with boredom.

"Thank you ever so much, Warden von Roon," Cindy said. "I know there's so much more to see but we've really got to be going now. You've been very helpful, I know our report will get an A."

"Its been a pleasure, my dear," von Roon said. He led them to the gate of the prison, they said farewell, and left the city. They found the spot where the TARDIS set, Jimmy clicked his remote, and the time machine decloaked.

"Guys, we've made history today," Jimmy said. "Let's go see what the future, from our perspective the present, has in store for us!"

The gang climbed into the TARDIS, it rose into the air, and disappeared.

At home, Jimmy was dismayed to see Retroville looked pretty much the same. There stood the Clubhouse and his home, completely unchanged.

"I don't understand, Jimmy," Sheen said. "I thought you said it could be a Newtopia."

"A utopia, Sheen." Jimmy said. "Wait, don't go out the door yet! Let me check something." Jimmy typed away at the TARDIS computer.

"Some minor anomalies and paradoxes have occurred," the TARDIS said. "Temporal flux field of passengers at 38.8. Recommend use of quantum stabilizers."

"What's that mean, Neutron?" Cindy asked.

"Well, I probably should have mentioned it earlier. There is a tiny, teeni-tiny, itty bitty chance – microscopic really – less that 1 of 1 …"

"Spit it out Neutron!" Cindy said.

"There's a chance we could erase our own existence," Jimmy said very fast.

"What?!" everyone else cried out.

"But not to worry! Here." Jimmy pulled small wristbands from the glove compartment. "Quantum stabilizers. They'll keep our atoms from collapsing into nothing if a paradox or anomaly occurred."

"How comforting," Cindy said, taking the wristband.

"So, until we check out the situation, don't take your wristband off," Jimmy said. "The effects could be – ah – unpleasant."

"Unpleasant how?" Carl asked.

"Um, well, either you slowly fade away like Marty in Back to the Future, or every atom in your body comes apart with the force of a low kiloton thermonuclear warhead."

"Wow, that _would_ be unpleasant!" Sheen said.

"So help me, Neutron, if I blow up like an atomic bomb I'll smack you into next year," Cindy said "and I won't even need a time machine!"

So they all wore their wristbands. "They are stylish, like those Lance Armstrong things," Carl noted, trying to remain cheerful.

"Let's go down into the Lab," Jimmy said.

Goddard let out a sudden howl. They looked at him, and a great electrical charge was racing over him, and he was becoming transparent.

"I forgot Goddard!" Jimmy cried out, and rushed into the TARDIS for another quantum stabilizer.

"He's gonna blow like a low kiloton thermonuclear warhead, whatever that means," Sheen yelled and hid behind Carl. "Shield me buddy."

"I don't know Sheen," Carl said, "I think I'm allergic to thermonuclear warheads. They make me break out in a rash."

"Duck and cover!" Libby yelled.

"Jimmy!" Cindy called into the TARDIS, "If we're about to die there's something I have to tell you!"

Jimmy hurried out of the TARDIS and clasped a stabilizer on Goddard's paw. Goddard's transparent appearance turned solid, and he barked. "Whew, that was close!" He turned to Cindy. "What was that Cindy?"

"Nothing. Nevermind."

Down in the Lab Jimmy sat in front of Vox while the gang crowded around. "Vox, access the Internet and the Encyclopedia. Give me a synopsis of major events of World War II, if there are any files on file."

"Yes Jimmy," Vox said. "Searching. There are 45,561,303 articles concerning World War II. Formating synopsis."

"I don't think we stopped World War II Jimmy," Carl said.

Jimmy read the synopsis. "That's odd, it doesn't look like we stopped World War II. We just delayed it. According to this, he served more time in jail. He was appointed Chancellor in 1936, instead of 1933. And Fuhrer in 1938, not 1934. Hm." Jimmy read some more. "So the war in Europe didn't even start until July 1st, 1941, when Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany a few days later, July 4th. World War on Independence Day?! The Soviets invaded the other side of Poland on July 18th. Uh-oh."

"What do you mean 'Uh-oh!' " Cindy asked.

Jimmy looked nervous. "The war appears to have lasted a lot longer. I can only assume because Germany was more prepared this time. The casualties of D-Day were twice what they used to be. The Battle of the Bulge was a massacre, I mean moreso than before. The Allies were almost thrown from the continent." Jimmy gasped, looking at the screen. "Germany didn't surrender until America dropped an atomic bomb on Berlin, killing Hitler and many of the Nazis, then four days later a second atomic bomb on Dresden."

"Uh, gee Jimmy," Carl said, "If I remember what Miss Fowl told us in class, didn't we use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasushi?"

"Nagasaki, Carl," Jimmy corrected. "Um, I'm afraid not any more. After conquering Germany finally, America didn't have any more bombs to spare for Japan. We invaded the Japanese mainland in June of 1946, it was even bigger than the invasion of France. The Soviet Union invaded too. One of these articles puts the American dead at one million for the Japanese invasion alone. We did eventually build more atomic bombs, and nuked Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Sendal. Finally the Japanese surrendered and World War Two was over on October 8th, 1948."

The gang was silent.

"Uh, Neutron," Cindy said, "I think the world was a little better off before you decided to stick your nose into history."

"Yeah Jimmy!" Libby said. "More people died than ever before! And six cities nuked instead of two, that can't be good for the environment!"

"I don't understand it," Jimmy told them. "I had Vox running scenarios and probabilties for weeks before I decided this would work."

"Well what do we do now? Go back and stop us from meddling in the first place?" Sheen asked.

"I know you're a genius and all but it was kinda lame, Jimmy," Libby said. "To think you could change history with a little piece of paper."

"I'll have you know, Libby, that little pieces of paper have changed history countless times," Jimmy declared. "But I'm not sure what to do next. Maybe we should sleep on it. Let's call it a night guys, we'll try again tomorrow. Give me a call if you notice anything unusual in this timeline."

So everybody went home.

Judy came out of the house as Jimmy was saying goodbye to Cindy. "Jimmy! Dinner's about to be put on the table.

"Okay, Mom, I'll be in a second," Jimmy said. "Thanks for your help today Cindy, that was a good idea."

"Thanks, Jimmy, but it didn't work worth beans."

"Don't worry. I'm sure with some minor adjustments we can figure out went wrong."

"Well I hope you're right Jimmy." Cindy began to walk around the side of the house to her home.

"Cindy, where are you going?" Judy asked.

"Home, Mrs. Neutron."

"Mrs. Neutron?!" Judy gasped. "Cindy, are you feeling all right?"

"Sure why?"

Judy walked to Cindy's side and put her hand on Cindy's forehead. "Hm, you don't seem to be running a temp."

Cindy's father, Richard Vortex, came out of the house. "Hey, gang, what's the hold up? I'm starving and the spaghetti looks great."

"Dad?" Cindy asked. "What are you doing at Jimmy's house?"

Richard laughed. "Jimmy's house? Last time I checked I'm the one making the house payments."

"Honey," Judy said to Richard, "I'm worried about Cindy. She's acting peculiar."

Jimmy was staring at them as well. "Mom, where the heck is dad?" he finally asked.

"You're looking at him, Jimmy," Richard said. "Son, did one of your experiments go horribly wrong again?"

Cindy and Jimmy looked at each other in horror.

"Now wait a minute," Cindy said, "Are you trying to tell me … you two are married?"

"You're going straight to bed with some aspirin, young lady, right after dinner," Judy said.

Richard Vortex came up and put his arm around Judy. "Of course we're married, Cindy," he said.

Jimmy goggled at the two of them. "But – But – But – if you're married … that means Cindy and I are … are …"

"You're brother and sister, Jimmy," Judy said with a smile.

Cindy and Jimmy fell over on their backs.


	3. Chapter 3

Consequences, Part Three:

Down the street Libby knocked on her door. Her mom opened it up. "Hi mom!" Libby said.

"What?" Mrs. Folfax asked. Libby moved to go inside but her mom pulled the door closed a little, so she was peering out the crack. "Who are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? I'm Libby!" Libby said.

"Libby who?" Mrs. Folfax asked.

Libby frowned and immediately thought of Jimmy and time travel. "Um, your daughter Libby?"

"What?!" Mrs. Folfax laughed. "We have no children!"

"Who is it honey?" came Mr. Folfax's voice.

"I'm not really sure," Mrs. Folfax answered.

Libby was confused and starting to feel frightened. "Mom, what do you mean you have no children?"

"Stop calling me mom, young lady!" Mrs. Folfax said, then added more gently "Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm not sure," Libby said. "Let me just ask again, so I'm absolutely clear on the subject. … You have no children?"

"No," Libby's mom said.

Panic began to rise in Libby's chest. "I-I'm sorry to have bothered you," she stammered. Then she turned and sprinted towards Jimmy's house. Whatever Jimmy had done, they HAD to undo it. Jimmy was right, they had endangered their own existence. She no longer had any parents!

Carl was just sitting down at the table in his house. "What's for dinner tonight, mom? Soy mulch? I love that stuff!"

"No, llama parmesan!" Mrs. Wheezer said.

Carl gasped. "What? Llama parmesan?!"

"Why you looking so upset, son?" Mr. Wheezer asked. "I thought you loved llamas!"

"I do!" Carl said. "I'm a llama man through and through! But you don't eat them! Besides, I thought you guys were allergic to parmesan, pasta, and red meat."

Mr. Wheezer laughed. "That was a long time ago son! You know we take allergy pills now, we can eat almost everything!"

"I hope your boys are hungry!" Mrs. Wheezer said, coming back into the dining room. She set the plates down on the table.

Mr. Wheezer took a big bite. "Dig in son!"

Carl turned green. He was hungry but this was terrible! What had Jimmy done to the world?

Sheen had just finished a good taco dinner with his family. "Thanks, dad, that was great!"

"It was nothing son," Mr. Estevez said. "I learned it all from your mom."

"Well, I'm off to spend a little quality time with my television," Sheen said.

"Now, son, what about your homework?" Mr. Estevez asked. "I don't want to have to meet with Miss Fowl again. And you certainly don't want to be held back again!"

"Dad, relax," Sheen said. "I told you I aced that test, so I'm definitely passing. Besides, I'll do my homework Sunday night. There's plenty of time." Before Sheen's dad could protest Sheen was out of his chair and up to his room.

Sheen opened his door, then gaped in amazement. His jaw dropped and his eye twitched. "Dad!" he yelled. "Grandma! Amanda!"

His family came up the stairs. "Goodness gracious, Sheen, what is the matter?" Grandma Esteves asked.

"What happened to my room?" Sheen demanded.

They looked into the room. "Uh, its messier than usual?" his sister Amanda offered.

"No!" Sheen cried. "What happened to all my Ultralord stuff?" Sheen's room was full of Star Trek things. An Enterprise, a Borg cube, and a Voyager hung from the ceiling. Pictures of Captain Janeway, Kes, Deanna Troi, Beverly Crusher, Jaxia Dax, T'pal, and Major Kira hung on the walls. A life size cardboard cutout of Seven of Nine stood in one corner. But nowhere was there anything Ultralord.

"Ultrawho?" Mr. Estevez asked.

"Only my favorite show of all time!" Sheen explained. "Ultralord! You know, the show I've never missed an episode of! The show I designed a web site about! The show that I've collected every single action figure ever made!"

"Son," Mr. Estevez said "I have never heard of Ultralord. And Star Trek is your favorite show of all time. You've dressed up as, what was it? Quark, Spock, and a giant Tribble the last three Halloweens. You never miss an episode and you have most of them on DVD."

"You never heard of Ultralord? None of you?" Sheen asked.

Mr. Estevez, Grandma Estevez, and Amanda all shook their heads.

This was worse than millions more dead in World War II! They had somehow erased Ultralord from history! Sheen fell to his knees crying "NOOOO!"

At the Vortex home, formally the Neutron residence, Jimmy and Cindy sat at the dinner table. The spaghetti was quite forgotten. Jimmy had a thermometer in his mouth and Cindy an ice bag on her head.

"We're fine, Mrs. Neutron, Cindy began, then corrected herself, "I mean – er - Mom," she made herself say. What had happened to her real mom and why had her dad married Judy Neutron? Come to think of it, Judy's name probably wasn't even Neutron anymore, it might be her maiden name. Judy Vortex? To say nothing of Jimmy Vortex, Boy Genius.

Jimmy seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Uh, mom. I know this may sound like a dorky question, but how did you and dad meet?"

"Jimmy!" Judy laughed. "Why on earth would you ask that now when you're sick with fever?" She looked the thermometer. "Hm, you're not running a temperature though."

"I feel fine really, mom. Cindy and I were just, er, overcome with heat a second."

"Here, drink your lemonade, it'll help," Judy said. "Well, you know the story Jimmy. Your dad and I knew each other since grade school. Oh, we hated it each other back then! But things changed in high school. And Richard asked me to the junior prom, and we've been together ever since."

Judy and Richard looked at each other and smiled. Jimmy and Cindy felt a little sick again.

"Mom, whatever happened to Hugh Neutron?" Jimmy asked.

"Who?" Judy asked in turn.

"You never heard of Hugh Neutron?"

Judy shook her head. "Why, no Jimmy. Should I have?"

Jimmy had to get to his lab. "May we be excused, mom?"

"But Jimmy, you haven't had a thing to eat. I know it got cold, but I'll heat it up for you."

Truth to tell both Jimmy and Cindy had quite lost their appetite. "If its all the same to you, mom, we just need some rest."

"What do you think, Richard?" Judy asked her husband.

"I think its all right, dear." Richard replied. "If they're tired, let them sleep. We can give them a good breakfast in the morning."

"Thanks, uh, dad. Goodnight mom!" Jimmy jumped off his chair and kissed his mom goodnight. Hesitating, he then kissed Richard Vortex on the cheek too. Cindy did the same.

In the hall, on the stairs, Jimmy paused to look at the pictures hung on the wall. Sure enough, there the four of them were. Jimmy and Judy, Cindy and her father, no Goddard though. Maybe that's why Goddard had become unstable upon return to the present. Then Jimmy had a terrible idea. The Neutron genius gene came from Hugh's side of the family, that's where Baby Eddie had inherited it from. If Hugh was removed from the equation, maybe he wasn't a genius anymore. It was possible he never invented Goddard. He was apparently still smart enough to build his clubhouse and Vox though. He always suspected he got some intelligence from his mom's side of the family too.

Upstairs, sure enough, on one side of the hall was Jimmy's bedroom. On the other side of the hall, looking same as usual, Cindy's.

"This is one of the weirdest things you ever did, Jimmy," Cindy said. "I just can't believe it. We're brother and sister!"

"I know."

"Jimmy! We've held hands! We even kissed! Its so gross and wrong now!"

Jimmy felt bad. Holding hands with Cindy and kissing her were some of the highlights of his life, that and his straight A report card, and now she was calling it gross. "Its not real, Cindy. I can fix this, and then we won't be related anymore."

"You better fix this. I feel dirty somehow."

"Well look at it this way. Remember 'Star Wars?'"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"In 'The Empire Strikes Back' Princess Lea gives Luke a kiss, and not just any kiss, a real sloppy one. And they DID turn out to be brother and sister. So our situation isn't so bad."

"That's nothing like our situation, Neutron," Cindy said, though she did look a little relieved.

They went into Jimmy's room. Goddard was in there. He whined a greeting and wagged his tail.

"Oh Jimmy!" came Judy's voice up the stairs.

"Yes mom?"

"One of your friends is here to see you. Its getting late so she can't stay too long."

Wondering who it could be Jimmy waited. Libby stormed into the room a second later. "Oh, you're in big trouble now Jimmy!" Libby cried out, furious. "I don't even exist anymore!"

"Oh Jimmy!" Judy called again. "Telephone!"

"Hold that thought Libby!" Jimmy said, taking the phone.

"What do you mean you don't exist Libby?" Cindy asked.

"I went home and my mom didn't know me!" Libby explained. "She said they had no children!"

It was Sheen on the phone, frantic about Ultralord. Carl called right after Sheen hung up, frantic about llamas. Although it was late they were all soon back in Jimmy's lab. Jimmy worked with Vox a long while, then turned to the anxious gang.

"All right, I've figured some things out. Carl, during World War Two there was rationing."

"Rationing?" Carl asked.

"You know, shortages. All the food and fuel was going to the troops in Europe and the Pacific, so back in America there were shortages of gasoline, butter, meat, fruit, just about everything. And it seems, in this timeline, since the war dragged on so much longer, someone decided to import llama meat from South America to help make up for the meat shortages." Carl looked horrified. "And after the war, I'm sad to say, Americans still had a taste for llama meat. So now it's a big import. There are even American llama farms in the south."

"Well, I always wanted to be a llama rancher," Carl said, "But not to eat them!"

"Sheen," Jimmy turned to Sheen, "Does the name 'Johnathon Horning' mean anything to you?"

"Does it?" Sheen said. "Man, he's the executive producer of Ultralord!"

"Sheen, not anymore he isn't. It seems his father died in France during World War Two. So, no father, no son, no Ultralord."

Sheen looked on the verge of tears.

Libby gave him a hug. "Star Trek is a good show, Sheen." She tried to console him. Sheen had told them all about the Star Trek stuff in his room.

"Don't worry, Sheen, Carl, I'll fix things," Jimmy assured them.

"And what about us Neutron?" Cindy demanded, tapping her foot.

"Well, its sort of the same deal for us Cindy," Jimmy said. "Remember how you said your grandfather fought in Normandy? I'm sad to say he died on Omaha Beach. No grandfather, no mother."

"Jimmy!" Cindy made a fist.

"Wait, Cindy, wait! There's more. Hugh Neutron's father died in Japan, so there's no Hugh. And without Hugh and your mother, my mother and your father got married."

"Yeah, but still having us," Cindy said. "It sounds like a bad soap opera."

Jimmy agreed. "Or a bad fan fic. But it happened."

"At least all of you still exist!" Libby cried. "What about me?"

Jimmy looked uncomfortable. "Well, Libby, I couldn't – er – really find anything about your case."

"What?!" Libby shouted.

"I have a theory or two though."

"Like what?" Libby asked.

Jimmy shifted from foot to foot. "It could be something as simple as your parents decision. Perhaps they thought the world too violent to bring a child into. Or it could be that there was more radioactive fallout in the atmosphere in this timeline than in the previous timeline, and that effected the biological processes of your parents."

"Meaning?"

Jimmy blushed. "Libby, please. Don't make me spell it out. We're just kids and it's an Adult matter." Libby glared angrily. "All right. It could be that one or both of your parents have become, ah, less fertile. Just whatever you do, don't take off that Quantum Stabilizer. You'll fade from existence."

"Thanks for the advice, Jimmy," Libby voice dripped with sarcasm. "And what do you intend to do about this colossal mess we're in now?"

"I'm not sure," Jimmy admitted. "Maybe we should sleep on it."

"Sleep? Sleep?!" Libby said. "I have no home to sleep in!"

"Don't worry, Libs," Cindy said. "We'll sneak you up to my room. We can have a sleepover."

"Well I know there's no sleep for me," Carl said. "I'll be too worried about all the young llamas that gave their lives so that Americans could have a warm meal."

"I know my original idea is right," Jimmy said, pacing about the lab. "If we can stop the Nazis the world will be a better place. And all the mistakes in our own individual lives should undo themselves."

"Uh, I dunno Jimmy," Sheen said. "Remember when we went back to the land of the dinosaurs? You didn't even want me juggling those eggs. Or Carl interacting with Leppy. What changed your mind?"

"Its different temporal ramifications Sheen," Jimmy explained. "Back then, we were millions of years in the past. The smallest of changes could have had huge consequences on the present. But what we're doing now, going back hardly a century, the changes are less."

"Less?" Cindy said. "Being your sister is 'less?' "

"If only there were a foolproof way to stop Hitler."

"Well gee, Jim," Carl said, "Why don't you use your hypnobeam on him? You know, so he won't be such a jerk and try to conquer the world."

Jimmy gaped at Carl.

"What, do I have something on my face!" Carl said.

"Carl, you're a genius!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Here we go again," Cindy said.

"We change Hitler's personality. Instead of rampaging egomaniac out to destroy the world, we turn him into a responsible world leader who will never declare war on anybody and never ever engineer the Holocaust. Guys, we're heading back to Germany!"

"Anything to end this madness," Cindy said, and they left the lab.

Thanks for reading! Comments welcome.

Note from Author: Sheen having a sister is NOT a time anomaly. In "I Dream of Jimmy" Sheen mentions his stupid little sister. I have since read elsewhere that Jimmy Neutron's creators now say that was a continuity error, and she has never been mentioned again. Still, I decided to use her.  
-Besides, she's named after a good friend of mine.


	4. Chapter 4

Consequences

Chapter Four

WARNING: This chapter contains some violence, blood, and gunplay that may be unsuitable to younger and more sensitive readers. -- But not me, I'll tell you. :P

The gang climbed into the TARDIS and took off. Cloaked this time, the TARDIS returned to the Landsberg Prison in am Lech, Bavaria, Germany. "All right, our other selves are just coming over the ridge there, let's intercept them."

"Uh, Jimmy," Libby said, "If we meet ourselves won't that be a – what's the word? Paradox? In 'Back to the Future' Doc Brown says a Paradox could unravel the very fabric of the universe."

"Ah, but Libby," Sheen added, "He also said the destruction could be limited to just our own galaxy."

"No, no," Jimmy said. "They said that for the Hollywood audience. Our former selves will fade away and we'll remain. Remember the TARDIS is built with paradox prohibitors. Now here's the plan, once we get in to see von Roon I'll zap him with the hypnobeam to take us to Hitler. Then I'll zap Hitler!"

Cindy was a little concerned that Jimmy was so casually talking about zapping people. "Are you sure this is going to work Neutron?"

"Of course, Cindy, come on!"

The gang and Goddard, in disguise once more, ran over the hill and met themselves.

"Wow, I'm good looking!" Sheen said to Sheen. "No wonder Libby likes you dude!"

"Hands off my Libby, pal!" Sheen said to Sheen, as the other began to fade away.

"Got a better idea, eh Jimmy?" Jimmy asked himself.

"Yes, its flawless," Jimmy explained. After a few more seconds, only one gang and one Goddard stood there.

The approached the gates, Cindy sweet talked themselves into the prison again, and then they were into von Roon's office. Jimmy didn't hesitate. "We do have one request," he whipped out the hypnobeam and zapped the warden, "We'd like to see Adolf Hitler."

"But of course children!" von Roon said. "Follow me."

Warden von Roon lead them all down the hall, down some stairs, down another hall, and into a surprising nice cell. There sat Adolf Hitler. Jimmy was a bit in awe. The most evil man in history, sitting right in front of him. He was sitting at a small desk with a book in his hand.

"Well hello children!" Hitler said, smiling. "What can I do for you?" Jimmy had read that Hitler liked children.

Jimmy zapped him with the hypnobeam. "Listen very carefully to me, Mister Hitler. When you become Fuhrer of Germany you will be a responsible and decent world leader. You will NOT declare war on anyone. You will not invade Poland, you will not invade France, you will not bomb Britain, you will not invade the Soviet Union. You will not engineer the Holocaust. And murdering anyone is not to be done."

At that moment a man walked into the cell, flanked by two guards with rifles. "What is going on here?" Before Jimmy could react the man snatched the hypnobeam out of Jimmy's hands. He looked at Hitler, and saw the swirling in his hypnotized eyes. "Hm, a crude mind control device it seems. Well, big headed kid, I suggest you undo whatever it is you just did if you know what's good for you. I heard all of it. It is poppycock."

"No, I'm not going to do that," Jimmy said defiantly.

"Who the heck are you?" Cindy asked.

"Rudolf Hess," the man said. "Adolf Hitler's private secretary. Guards, perhaps you can persuade this kid to cooperate." The guards raised their guns and pointed them at Jimmy. "How do you reverse this strange device?"

Jimmy felt that stopping World War Two was too important. "I'll never tell you that!"

"Very well, take aim," Hess said. "That big head at such close range should make an easy target."

"No, Jimmy, No!" Cindy cried. "You can break the hypnobeam! Or a loud noise will do it, like an air horn!"

"Cindy!" Jimmy said.

"A loud noise, eh?" Hess said. "A gunshot maybe?"

"Jimmy!" Cindy shouted, shoving Jimmy to the ground. A rifle cracked. Cindy grabbed her left arm, then looked at her hand; it was covered with blood. "I'm bleeding! I can't bleed, I'm a cartoon character!"

Sheen gasped. "She's already delusional!"

Cindy swooned and fell to the floor. "Cindy!" the gang gasped. Libby knelt at her side, tears in her eyes.

"What on earth is going on?" Hitler asked, coming out of his trance. "Hess! What have you done to these poor children?"

"Ah good, my friend, you're back to normal. These 'poor children' are clearly enemies of the state."

"What?" von Roon asked. "Children?"

"I suggest we toss them in prison for a good long time," Hess continued.

"Goddard!" Jimmy shouted. "Escape plan 7943-B!"

Goddard barked. His giant magnet came out and the rifles flew to it. His ion blaster came out next and he punched a hole in the prison wall. Goddard dumped the guns outside. He deployed a big board out of his back and lifted Cindy onto it.

"What the?!" Hess cried. "What kind of dog is that?"

"We don't need guns to stop a couple brats," one of the guards said, cracking his knuckles.

"Come on everybody!" Jimmy cried. They all hopped onto Goddard's board and he flew out the hole in the wall.

Von Roon stood at the hole. "Alarm! Alarm! Guards! Bring down that flying dog!"

Sirens sounded in the prison and machine guns opened up from the towers. Goddard flew this way and that, some bullets bouncing off of him.

"We're going to die!" Carl cried, hiding behind his hands.

"They're shooting bullets at us!" Sheen exclaimed. "Real bullets! Not shrink rays, alien blasters, or rainbow rays! Real honest to goodness kill-ya-dead bullets!"

Libby was applying pressure to Cindy's arm.

"Jimmy," Cindy said weakly. "There's something I have to tell you."

They flew over the prison wall and landed next to the cloaked TARDIS.

"What is it Cindy?" Jimmy asked, decloaking the time machine.

"I think … I think I lo …" Cindy passed out.

They all piled into the TARDIS. "All right," Jimmy said, "I'll reprogram the TARDIS for just before we went into the prison. Then I'll zap von Roon, Hitler, AND Hess."

"No, Jimmy, no!" Libby exclaimed. "Cindy's shot! SHOT! We need a hospital. No more ridiculous plans today."

"But –" Jimmy began.

"Uh, Jimmy, I'm with Libby on this one," Sheen said. "Let's get outta here while we can."

"Yeah Jimmy," Carl said. "Cindy could die!"

"All right!" Jimmy programmed the TARDIS. It took off into the air and moments later was in the present, in Jimmy's backyard, in Retroville. "Goddard has contacted Vox about the emergency and Vox has contacted our parents." Judy and Hugh ran out of the house as the door to the TARDIS opened up. "Dad! Its so good to see you again! We must have done something to repair the timeline."

"Jimbo!" Hugh looked into the car. "Great leaping bananas, that's blood!"

"Jimmy! Cindy!" cried Judy. "What happened?"

"We've, uh, had an accident," Jimmy explained feebly.

Judy whipped out a towel and wrapped it around the wound. At that time Mister and Mrs. Vortex came running from across the street.

"Cynthia!" Mrs. Vortex hugged Cindy tight. "Cindy, speak to me!"

Cindy revived at the sound of her mother's voice. "Mom! You're alive! You're here! Are you really my mom?"

"Oh, of course I am baby!" Mrs. Vortex said.

"And you're married to dad?" Cindy asked.

Richard and Sasha looked at each other, distraught. "Yes we are, honey," Mrs. Vortex told her daughter.

"And I'm not Jimmy's sister?" Cindy asked.

"What? What kind of question is that? Oh Cindy! No, of course not!"

"Thank goodness," Cindy said, and swooned again.

"I'm calling an ambulance!" Judy said.

"Let's take the astrocar Mom, it'll be faster." Jimmy said. "We can fly over the streets and buildings."

Judy turned to Mrs. Vortex. "Sasha, you and Richard go with Jimmy and Cindy in the astrocar."

"Is that thing safe?" Richard asked.

"Of course it is Richard!" Hugh said. "We once flew halfway across the galaxy in it!"

Judy continued. "Hugh and I will drive the rest of us to the hospital."

So everyone split up and within minutes they were rushing into the Retroville Memorial Hospital. In their panic and haste no one noticed the flag pole out front, with two flags flapping in the evening breeze. An American flag, but one with fifty-six stars for all fifty-six states. And above that, red, black, and white, with a golden eagle, the flag of the World Nazi State.


	5. Chapter 5

Consequences, Part Five:

Everyone was quiet in the Retroville Memorial Hospital Emergency Room. Finally Judy spoke up. "Jimmy," she asked. "What on earth happened?"

"How did my Cythnia get shot?" Mrs. Vortex asked.

"Well," Jimmy began nervously, "I'm afraid, er, I'm afraid it was an experiment of mine gone horribly wrong."

"What were you working on now Jimbo?" Hugh asked. "For years we've endured the walking pants, the shrinking, and the alien invasions, and you've been warned, talked to, and punished. But no one's ever been hurt before, except for when that space rock threw out my back."

Jimmy didn't know what to say.

"And the time the Giant Robotic Evil Goddard attacked me," Hugh continued. "Then there were those forty baseballs hitting me on the head. And when Flippy Two sucked out my brain. And when the Auto Campground exploded." Hugh fell silent at a look from Judy.

Sheen suddenly spoke up. "Jimmy was working on a force field for his Robowalker! You know in case the League of Villains shows up again!"

The adults looked at Sheen.

"But how did Cindy get shot?" Mister Vortex repeated the question.

"Well, we've got to test the weapons on it, right?" Sheen said.

"You had a gun? Jimbo, guns are Big People Things!" Hugh declared. "Where on earth did you get a gun?"

"He made one of course!" Sheen continued. "Goddard's got a plasma bolt, laser eyes, and an ion blaster! Jimmy could build a regular old fashioned gun in his sleep!"

Jimmy didn't think Sheen's story was improving the situation any. Carl looked worried and Libby was quiet, looking at her feet.

"So," Sasha Vortex said, "You put Cindy in this Robowalker thing and shot a gun at her?!"

Sheen laughed. Jimmy hoped that the adults didn't notice how forced his laugh was. "No! Of course not! The force field worked perfectly! But the bullet ricocheted and hit Cindy."

The Vortexes still looked upset but just a little bit relieved that it was an accident. Judy said "Why were you in the astrocar then? And not down in the lab?"

Sheen's eye twitched.

Uh oh, Jimmy thought, a hole in the story. "We thought it would be safer testing weapons out in the desert," Jimmy said hastily. "I – er – always test my weapons out there."

"It looks like it was an accident Sasha," Judy said to Mrs. Vortex. "We are SO sorry."

Mrs. Vortex was silent, though she looked very angry. Richard Vortex spoke up. "Well, we know that your son has saved the town several times, like from that flaming meteor and that giant Twonkie-thing, but this is entirely too dangerous."

"You're right, Richard," Judy agreed. "Jimmy, I hate to have to tell you this in front of your friends, but you are going to be punished. We are going to seal off your lab so there will be no experiments for three months."

"Three months!" Jimmy said. It was a long time, but how was his mom going to seal off his lab?

The doctor entered the waiting room and the Vortexes jumped to their feet. "How is my daughter?" Sasha asked.

"Mr. and Mrs. Vortex, Cindy will be perfectly fine," the doctor said. "The bullet didn't damage any bone, the muscle damage appears minimal, as does the blood loss. It was mostly shock, but even shock can be dangerous. Still, you got her here fast and all is well."

"Thank goodness!" Sasha said and hugged her husband.

Jimmy felt relieved too.

"May we see our daughter?" Richard asked.

"Of course," the doctor replied.

Jimmy wanted to see Cindy too, but thought it rude to ask right now. The doctor left with the Vortexes.

"Hugh, could you take Libby, Sheen, and Carl home in the car?" Judy asked. "I want to wait to talk to Sasha again, make sure Cindy is all right, then Jimmy and I have to take care of a little business."

"Of course, Sugar Booger," Hugh said. "Come on gang, it's getting late."

"Just a minute Mr. Neutron," Libby finally said. She took out her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Libby heard her mom answer the phone.

"Mom?" Libby asked hesitantly.

"Hello Libby," her mom replied. "Honey, its getting late, I think you should come home."

Libby felt tears in her eyes. "Mom, you know me?"

"Libby, are you feeling all right?" her mom asked. "Should I get a wasp ready for you when you get home?"

Libby actually laughed. "No, no mom, I don't think I'll need a wasp. Just seeing you and dad should be enough. I'll be home in a few minutes; Mr. Neutron is driving me over."

"See you soon, honey," her mom said.

Libby hung up with a smile. Everything was going to be all right. Cindy was okay and she existed again. "I don't know what you did Jimmy," she said, "But I guess things are all right after all."

"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow at school Jim," Sheen said.

"Yeah, Jim, see ya," Carl said. "Sorry your plan to save the world didn't work out."

"No, it didn't, did it?" Jimmy admitted. "I thought I had everything figured out too. Bye guys."

Hugh, Libby, Sheen and Carl left. But a minute later a man in a black suit walked in and Jimmy's jaw dropped open in astonishment. The man wore a red armband with a swastika on it. Judy stood up to greet him.

"Heil Hitler!" the man said, his arm shooting out.

"Heil Hitler!" Judy replied, doing the same.

"Mom!" Jimmy cried. "What are you doing?"

Judy looked at her son with a smile. "Just saying hello to Mr. Anderson, Jimmy."

"Hello, Jimmy," Mr. Anderson said, grinning.

"You!" Jimmy gasped. "You look like you're a member of the Nazi SS!"

"But of course I am!" Mr. Anderson replied. "Thirty years of loyal service next September."

Jimmy's mind was whirling. What had happened now?

"I just need to take a few notes on the unfortunate incident with Cindy Vortex," Mr. Anderson said, opening up a briefcase he carried and pulling out some papers.

"You know about that?" Jimmy asked.

"We know everything!" Mr. Anderson said proudly. "And we do need to investigate all gun wounds, of course."

"Well certainly, Mr. Anderson," Judy said. "I knew we'd see you but I thought it could wait until tomorrow. A long night for you, isn't it?"

"I had the night shift," Mr. Anderson said. "In any case, the SS never sleeps. Now then, what happened?"

Judy looked at Jimmy. "Well," he stammered, "I'm afraid it was one of my experiments gone horribly wrong."

Mr. Anderson laughed. "Again? Well tell me about it. If it's anything like the last few times, I'm sure there will be no charges filed, though your mother may punish you."

"Oh yes I will, we've already discussed that," Judy said.

Jimmy told the story Sheen had told. Thanks to his perfect recall, he thought he got all the facts right. But he couldn't believe what was happening. His own mother on friendly terms with a member of the Nazi SS, right here in present day Retroville!

Thankfully Mr. Anderson seemed satisfied with the explanation. He wrote a bit more on his papers, put them into his briefcase, and snapped it shut. "Seems an unfortunate accident to me, but I am glad Cynthia will be all right. Though I must stress to you Mrs. Neutron that despite your Elite Status, it is unwise to let a child use a handgun."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Mr. Anderson," Judy said. She turned to Jimmy and said "Your father and I are going to have a few more words with you when we get home, young man. It's not enough to say guns are Big People things."

"Now if you'll excuse me," Mr. Anderson said, "I must talk to the Vortexes." He left the waiting room.

Jimmy was alarmed. What if he talked to Cindy? She wouldn't know the story. What if she told of the time machine? He didn't think she would, not to a Nazi, but what would she say?

Judy lectured Jimmy while they sat in the waiting room some more. Finally Mr. Anderson came back in, with the Vortexes. "How's Cindy?" Jimmy asked.

Sasha still looked upset, but Richard said "She's resting. But she's asking for you, Jimmy. The doctor says you can go see her if you like, but keep it short. It is late and she needs her rest."

Jimmy felt he should say something. "Mr. and Mrs. Vortex, I am really, really, REALLY sorry. I would never do anything to hurt Cindy. Never. I – I mean – I mean she's a great girl, and a very good friend."

Sasha frowned. Richard said "She speaks quite highly of you, Jimmy."

"She does?" Jimmy was stunned.

Richard nodded. "Cindy is in room 411. Goodnight, Jimmy."

Sasha said "Goodnight," a bit coolly, and the Vortexes began to discuss the matter with Judy and Mr. Anderson.

Jimmy wandered down the hall and found Cindy in her room, her arm wrapped in bandages and in a sling. She smiled at him weakly but looked nervous.

"Hi," Jimmy said.

"Hi," Cindy said in return. They were silent a moment, then Cindy said "Jimmy, who was that man? What is going on?"

"I don't know, Cindy," Jimmy said.

"Jimmy, that man was a Nazi! At least he sure looked and acted like a Nazi. What was he doing here in Retroville?"

"I don't know!" Jimmy repeated, feeling confused and terrible. It was not like him to not know something. "But I'm going to go home and find out."

"How are the others? Is Libby all right?"

"Well, aside from the Nazis, everything else seems to be all right. Libby called her mom."

"That's a relief!"

Jimmy and Cindy fell quiet a long moment. Finally Jimmy said "Cindy, I think you may have saved my life by pushing me down there in that cell. And not just from a giant man eating Venus fly trap, but from a man with a gun."

Cindy blushed. "I, um, didn't want to see you hurt."

"Thank you," Jimmy said simply.

Cindy smiled. "Any time." She touched her arm. "I just wish this didn't hurt so much."

"Does it hurt a lot?"

Cindy hesitated, then shook her head. "No, I guess not."

Jimmy and Cindy were quiet another long moment, staring at each other. Jimmy said "I guess I better let you get some sleep, Cindy."

"Goodnight Jimmy. I hope you can figure all this out."

"Goodnight." Jimmy walked to the door, turned back to look at Cindy, then left.

Judy and Jimmy returned to the house in the TARDIS. Jimmy was surprised that his mother didn't go into the house though, but walked around into the backyard. Wondering what she was up to, Jimmy followed her.

In the cool evening the only light came from the windows and Vox's single red eye on the clubhouse. Judy approached the eye.

"Jimmy, I said we would have to punish you," Judy said, then turned to Vox. "Vox, recognize Judy Neutron, parental override Alpha Omega seven three."

"Judy Neutron recognized," Vox replied. Jimmy was stunned.

"Shut down all lab experiments."

"All lab experiments shutting down," Vox said.

"Disable all Internet connections."

"All Internet connections disabled," Vox said.

"Deactivate all vehicles and forms of transportation."

"Rockets, jetpack, TARDIS, hovercar, submarine, telepods and Jimmybus deactivated," Vox said.

"Now, seal off the lab and activate Level One security measures. Continue these protocols until three months from this date."

"Understood," Vox said.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you Jimmy," Judy said, "But this is the most serious accident that's ever happened."

Boy moms are smart, Jimmy thought. "Mom, how did you do that?"

"I'm not just a pretty face, mister," Judy replied. "Now march up to your bedroom. Your father and I will be up there in a minute."

Sadly Jimmy walked into the house. This was a disaster! Cut off from the lab, from Vox, from the TARDIS, and with the Nazis apparently in charge of America, for three whole months. What was he going to do?


	6. Chapter 6

Consequences, Part Six:

WARNING: This chapter contains some convoluted history. But I hope it's still entertaining.

Upstairs in his bedroom, Judy lectured Jimmy long with Hugh adding his comments now and then. Then Judy kissed Jimmy on top of his head and bid him goodnight.

Jimmy tossed and turned a bit but there was no sleep in him. He got up and went over to his computer and began typing, but didn't get far when a message came up reading "Access denied. You're being grounded mister!" Jimmy's room computer was networked into Vox.

"Goddard! Access the Internet! I have to find out what happened."

Goddard lifted up his chest plate but the message appeared on Goddard too. "Access denied. You're being grounded mister!"

"Mom got to you too Goddard? How did she do that?"

So there was nothing to do but return to bed. He considered sneaking out but what would that accomplish if he didn't know what was going on?

--

Jimmy didn't have a very good night. He worried about what had happened to history and what had happened to Cindy. Breakfast was a quiet affair and Jimmy didn't want to go to school but could so no way out of it, cut off from all his technology.

Lindberg Elementary seemed to be the same when the bus drove up, though it was disturbing to see the Nazi flag flying above the American one outside on the flag pole, then inside hanging in Miss Fowl's class. Libby looked upset, Carl worried, and Sheen oblivious.

"Good morning class!" Miss Fowl said. "Today we will begin out studies of how the hamburger was invented." Jimmy raised his hand. "Yes Jimmy?"

"Miss Fowl," Jimmy said, "I have a question. How did the Nazis conquer America?"

To Jimmy's surprise everyone laughed. "Neutron!" Butch said "You're supposed to be a genius!"

"Yeah, Jimmy," Britney said "Even I know that!"

"Jimmy," Miss Fowl told him "The Nazis didn't conquer America."

"Well that's a relief," Jimmy said.

"They conquered the world!" Miss Fowl exclaimed, flapping her arms.

Libby's draw dropped, Carl put his head on his desk, and Sheen's eye twitched. "What?!" Jimmy cried out.

"Of course Jimmy," Britney said. "From the Antarctica Republic to the North Pole."

"And the moon colonies," Amber added. "Oo, I hope me and my parents go back to moon soon."

"And don't forget the Martians!" Ike said.

"The Martians?" Jimmy asked.

"You better believe it!" Ike exclaimed. "We totally kicked their stone butts."

"And the Yolkians too," Butch said. "Teach those slimy jerks to try to invade earth."

"The Yolkians?" Jimmy asked, his head swimming. "The Nazis conquered Yolkus?"

Butch laughed again. "Neutron! Did you take stupid pills this morning? The Nazis rule forty-seven worlds!"

"Jexlia," Britney said. "Which I hear is quite lovely."

"Istonian Eight," Amber said. "Gorlock."

"Wanta, Beretu, Ix, Nappa," Ike listed on his fingers. "Meldar Four."

"Meldar?" Jimmy asked, feeling as if the questions were about to burst from his head. He wondered what had happened to April.

"Of course!"

"But how did this happen?" Jimmy asked. "I can't believe we could conquer Meldar."

"The same way we united earth, Jimmy," Miss Fowl said. "Brilliant leadership!"

"You mean Hitler is still alive now?" Jimmy asked.

"Ah, if he only was," Miss Fowl answered. "No, he died in 1975, May 5th."

"Yeah Jimmy," Britney said. "Geez! What's wrong with you today? It's a worldwide day of mourning."

"And no school!" Butch added.

Jimmy felt sick to his stomach. He had to find out what had happened. "Uh, Miss Fowl, may I be excused? I don't feel well."

Miss Fowl shook her head. "No, Jimmy, you know that's against the law. Now anyway, back to more exciting things. The hamburger!"

Jimmy had to endure the History of the hamburger, Why CDs have holes in them, Who was the first man to jump the English Chanel, and Where the World's largest Muskrat is located. (Wall, South Dakota.) Finally lunch came around. Carl, Sheen and Libby met him outside the classroom.

"Jimmy, what on earth has happened?" Libby demanded.

"I don't know Libby, let's go to the library and find out."

"The library?" Sheen asked. "What's that?"

"The place with all the books, Sheen," Libby explained.

"And computers and Internet too," Jimmy added.

"But Jimmy! What about lunch?" Carl asked. "You know man can't live on books alone."

"Yeah!" Sheen said. "And it's burrito day!"

"Jimmy, this is kind of urgent," Libby said. "Do you think our dinky library can help? Shouldn't we go to the lab?"

Jimmy shook his head and explained how he was punished by his mother and banned from all his technology. "I never knew Mom could do that," he said.

Carl smiled. "Judy IS amazing, isn't she? She's so intelligent and kind and sweet and beautiful and …" Carl flustered, "for an older woman I mean!"

Libby rolled her eyes.

So they hurried to the lunchroom, got their meals to go, and then went upstairs to the library.

"I don't know Jimmy," Carl said with a mouthful of burrito, "we're not supposed to eat in the library."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures Carl," Jimmy explained. "Libby, you're an intelligent girl …"

"Why Jimmy!" Libby smiled. "What a nice compliment! I didn't know you cared."

"You putting the moves on my girl Jim?" Sheen asked. "Cause if you are, I shall have to ask you to step outside where I can poke and pinch you."

"Guys! Focus!" Jimmy said. "Libby, you check the Internet to see what happened. Sheen – ah – you can give her moral support."

Libby nodded and Sheen saluted and went to the corner where two ancient computers sat.

"Carl you help me with the books, but don't get burrito on them."

"Okay Jim."

"And hurry! We only have a half hour for lunch."

Jimmy knew the Dewey Decimal System by heart, but when he went to the 943s he could find no information about World War Two. Not a single book was there. There were many books about the Nazis though. He took down a book titled "The Rise of the Third Reich" and frowned. The author was William L. Shirer. Jimmy new that in the proper history, the book was titled "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich."

Carl took down a book titled "A Dummies Guide to Being a Patriotic Nazi." They walked over to where Sheen and Libby were.

Libby looked up. "Jimmy! I can't find a thing on World War Two. Nothing in Wikipedia or under Yahoo or Google. There was something called the War of the Pacific, or the Last War. Japan invaded Hawaii on March 3rd, 1940. But the war only lasted a couple months. Britain, Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, and China invaded Japan on August 6, 1940." Libby looked uneasy. "Jimmy, I'm not sure, but I don't think there's been a war since. No Korean War, no Vietnam War, No war in Iraq or Afghanistan."

"Peace in our time!" Sheen exclaimed. "Jimmy, you did it!"

"Sheen!"

"Look Jim," Carl said, "the Hitler Youth get to wear these really cool outfits. All black and shiny with boots. Kinda like those black suits we wore in your movie, remember?"

"Jimmy," Libby said. "This is way messed up. Look, Richard Nixon is the President of the United States. Mexico, Canada, Greenland, Cuba, the Bahamas, and Panama are all states. The United Nations is located in Berlin! Hitler is on Mount Rushmore! Heinrich Hitler, Hitler's Grandson, is known as the Supreme Leader. He rules everything!"

"I don't understand how this could have happened!" Jimmy moaned. "This book says nothing of battles or conquests. It seems that Poland, France, Britain, Russia, and America all JOINED the Axis, but I can't figure out why. "The first tentative workings of a world government were formed in a historic meeting of the superpowers in Tehran, Iran, on May 15th, 1940.""

"The Tehran Conference, Jimmy," Libby said. "That sounds familiar."

"It should," Jimmy said. "The Tehran conference really did take place, but in late 1943, and then it was Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt discussing how to defeat the Nazis. Not join them! Why on earth would they join them?"

Libby turned to the computer and did some typing. "Look, Jimmy, here's a picture."

Jimmy looked. There sat the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin and Great Britain's Neville Chamberlain, talking together. Adolf Hitler sat next to Franklin Roosevelt, who was laughing with his cigarette holder in his mouth. Italy's Benito Mussolini sat on the far right, talking to Spain's Francisco Franco and France's Edouard Daladier. Behind them all hung flags for each country, and beneath the flags stood many Nazi officials. Jimmy recognized Himmler of the SS, Goring of the German Air Force, Ribbentrop of the Foreign Ministry, and Goebbels of Propaganda. It made him even sicker to his stomach to see them all smiling.

"Hey, Jim, where's that fat guy with the cigar?" Sheen asked.

"Is that a fat joke?" Carl said with a frown.

"You mean Winston Churchill," Jimmy said. "The British Prime Minister. Something must have happened; it seems the guy before him, Chamberlain, was still Prime Minister. And the leader of France hasn't changed either." Then Jimmy bent in close to the screen, looking hard at Himmler. He was holding something in his hand, hard to see between Stalin and Chamberlain's heads, but it looked like a pistol. Jimmy reached for the mouse, highlighted the area, and stabbed Zoom. A fuzzy thing appeared on the screen.

"What's that Jim?" Carl asked.

"I can't get a clear picture. Vox and Goddard could clear this up in a second." Jimmy opened up DOS and quickly wrote a program. He applied it to the open graphic and gasped. "OH NO! It can't be!"

"Jimmy!" Libby's voice sounded frightened. "Jimmy, that looks like the-"

"It is! The Nazis kept the Hypnobeam! We left it in the cell with Hitler!" On the computer screen the leader of the Nazi SS, Heinrich Himmler, could be seen slipping the Hypnobeam back into a briefcase chained to his wrist. "That's how they conquered the world! That's how they're conquering the galaxy! They don't need tanks or blitzkriegs, atomic bombs or machine guns; they can hypnotize all the world leaders into being their allies!"

"Bummer," Sheen said. "Can we go get another burrito?"

"Sheen!"

"Hey!" came a voice, "What are you guys doing in here?" The gang whipped around to see Chuck Lester, the Hall Monitor, standing at the library door.

"Chuck Lester!" they cried.

"Didn't you move to Greece?" Sheen asked.

Chuck didn't look like himself though. He wore black boots, black slacks, a black coat over a white shirt with tie, a red Nazi armband, a black cap, and SS lightning bolts on his shoulders.

"Oo, Chuck, you're a member of the Hitler Youth!" Carl said.

"Stow it, Wheezer!" Chuck barked. "Lunch break ended five minutes ago! That's 10 lashes. And from the looks of things you've had burritos in the library. That's 20 lashes!"

"What do you mean, 'lashes?'" Jimmy asked.

"Standard punishment, Neutron," Chuck said. "A cat-of-nine-tails."

"I thought cats had nine lives, not tails," Carl said.

"No Carl," Jimmy explained. "A cat-of-nine-tails is a torture device. It's like a nine-pronged whip, with barbs on each whip."

"Boy Jim," Sheen said, "You sure now your medieval torture devices!"

"To the dungeon!" Chuck demanded.

"Since when did this school have a dungeon," Carl asked, wringing his hands nervously.

"What do we do now, Jimmy?" Libby asked at the same time.

"I'm no genius," Sheen answered before Jimmy could have a Brain Blast, "But I suggest, RUN FOR IT!"

--

Thanks for reading! Comments welcome and encouraged.


	7. Chapter 7

Consequences, Chapter Seven:

--

Everyone sprinted towards the door. Chuck yelled "Halt!" and tried to stop them but they bowled him over and sprinted into the hall. "Assaulting a Hall Monitor!" he cried. "That's fifty lashes!"

The group ran down the hall, down the stairs, and out the door.

"Where are we going?" Libby asked as they sprinted into the park.

"Anywhere but here!" Jimmy said.

"To the lab!" Sheen cried.

"But Jimmy can't get into the lab, Sheen," Carl said, sweating and panting.

"No wait!" Jimmy shouted. "I have an idea!"

"Not another one!" Sheen cried.

"No, this will work. Sheen, you're right. To the lab!"

The gang came to a stop in front of Jimmy's lab. Carl fell over and took out his inhaler. Libby gasped for breath and Sheen wiped the sweat off his brow. "Boy, when the Hovercar isn't around, we sure do miss it don't we?"

After they had regained their breath they looked around. Chuck did not seem to have pursued them but they still felt uneasy. Goddard came out the door and barked a greeting.

"What are we going to do Jim?" Carl asked, standing up and looking worried. "That Chuck might send the whole army after us!"

"Carl, do you remember how you fooled Cindy with your ventriloquism when we were all shrunk? By imitating her mom's voice?"

"Sure Jim," Carl answered.

"Oh I love ventriloquism!" Sheen said. "Maybe Carl can put on a little show while the whole Nazi army closes in around us!"

"Sheen!"

"Sorry."

"Carl," Jimmy continued, "Do you think you could imitate my mom's voice?"

"Judy's voice?" Carl said. He became dreamy eyed. "The most beautiful voice this world has ever known? A voice that sounds like a lovely melody, or a babbling brook, or the song of angels? Oh yes! I practice Judy whispering sweet nothings all the t- I mean, sure Jim!"

Jimmy didn't say anything but Libby rolled her eyes.

"Well here's what you need to do. Look at Vox and say in my mom's voice 'Vox, recognize Judy Neutron, parental override Alpha Omega seven three.' "

"Okay." Carl turned to Vox's single red eye and said in Judy's voice, "Vox, recognize Judy Neutron, parental override Alpha Omega seven three."

Jimmy crossed his fingers, but Vox merely replied "Judy Neutron recognized." Thank goodness his mom only used a voice recognition program! If it had been a retinal scanner or a DNA scanner like Jimmy used, they'd be in real trouble.

"Now say 'Disable all security features and grant Jimmy full access to the lab, all vehicles, and the Internet."" Jimmy whispered in Carl's ear. "Initialize all experiments."

Carl repeated Jimmy's message. Jimmy plucked a hair, held it up to the electric eye, and the clubhouse door opened.

"Cool Carl!" Sheen said.

They all hurried inside and down to the lab. "Vox!" Jimmy said. "Enable security and scan vicinity for hostiles!"

"Security systems online," Vox said. "No hostiles present."

"What do we do now Jimmy?" Libby asked.

"We've got to go back to 1923 and get back the Hypnobeam," Jimmy explained.

"I dunno Jimmy," Sheen said. "All this time travel is giving me a headache."

"Sheen, the fate of the world rests on us! We can't let the Nazis win."

The gang went downstairs into the garage. There sat the Hovercar, Jimmy's various rockets, the Submarine, the Jetpack hung on the wall, and the TARDIS. They all went inside, Jimmy started it, the roof opened, and they took off.

"First I'm getting Cindy," Jimmy said. He spoke into his watch. "Vox! Locate Cindy Vortex."

Vox's voice came over the watch. "Cindy Vortex is in her bedroom."

"She's not in the hospital?"

"No. She was discharged this morning at 10:00 AM."

"Jimmy," Libby asked, "How does Vox know where Cindy is?"

"I had Cindy implanted with a tracking device," Jimmy said, engaging the cloak. He flustered. "Uh, for purely scientific purposes of course." Libby looked unconvinced.

Jimmy flew across the street. He brought the TARDIS into a hover outside Cindy's bedroom window and looked inside. He could see Cindy inside on her bed, apparently asleep. He opened the door of the TARDIS, then the window, and crept inside.

Cindy looked so sweet and restful with her eyes closed. Jimmy felt terrible seeing her arm in a sling though; it was all his fault. He saw she was still wearing the Quantum Stabilizer on her wrist though, right next to the hospital identification bracelet. Well, he'd soon put things right, Jimmy thought. He touched Cindy's arm and her eyes fluttered open.

"Jimmy!" Cindy exclaimed and smiled. She hugged him tight, then jerked away. Then looked angry. "What are you doing in my bedroom? And me in my pajamas again!"

"We're heading back to the past," Jimmy explained.

"Back to the Past?" Jimmy heard Sheen say behind him. "Is that another sequel to Back to the Future?"

"We're going to set things right.," Jimmy continued. "And I had to come get you."

Cindy hesitated, and then nodded. "Let me get dressed." Cindy got up and grabbed her green top and her pants from her closet. Jimmy was surprised to see the closet was almost full of green tops and pants, like his closet was full of red shirts and blue jeans. Cindy took her clothes into her bathroom. She had some difficulty dressing with her injured arm, but came out a few minutes later. Jimmy helped her into the TARDIS then climbed in himself. He set the coordinates and they took off.

Seconds later they were once again landing outside the prison in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany. "Man, it seems like we were just here yesterday!" Sheen said.

"We were just here yesterday," Jimmy explained.

"And there we are again!" Carl said, pointing outside. They other selves were all walking over a distant ridge, heading towards the prison. They hurried to meet themselves, and then met a third group of themselves.

"Wow, I'm good looking!" Sheen said to Sheen. "No wonder Libby likes you dude!"

"Hands off my Libby, pal!" Sheen said to Sheen.

"Good grief," Cindy said, "This is getting needless complicated."

"What on earth happened to your arm?" her triplet asked herself.

"You don't want to know," she told herself.

"You know Jimmy, we do this one more time I could have my own barbershop quartet," Sheen said. "You know I love singing."

Their doubles began to fade.

"Got a better idea, eh Jimmy?" Jimmy asked himself.

"Well," Jimmy confessed, "Let's just say I ran into an unseen problem."

Soon they were standing by themselves on the hill outside the prison. The hypnobeam lay discarded on the ground and Jimmy picked it up. "Well, that takes care of that."

"Time travel is so confusing," Carl said. "I don't have a clue what just happened."

"By showing up we prevented ourselves from going into the prison in the first place," Jimmy said. "So we never tried to hypnotize Hitler, and the hypnobeam, being removed from the picture, fell back into our reality."

"If you say so Jim," Carl said.

"Are we going back into the prison Jim?" Libby asked.

"I really don't want to be shot again," Cindy said, frowning and touching her arm.

"You never were shot, Cindy," Jimmy said.

"What do you mean?" Cindy said. "Look! My arm is still in a sling and it still hurts."

"Well, here, this should improve things." Jimmy took Cindy's quantum stabilizer off. Cindy shimmered before her eyes and then her sling was gone.

"Jimmy!" Cindy exclaimed. "Now my arm doesn't hurt anymore!"

"You were never shot," Jimmy said, putting the stabilizer back on Cindy's wrist. "But as long as we're traveling it's best to wear this."

"I love what you did to your hair Vortex," Sheen said, grinning.

"Cindy!" Libby exclaimed.

"What? What happened to my hair?"

Carl's eyes widened and Jimmy gasped.

Cindy looked confused but Goddard popped up a mirror for her. "My hair! It's black!" Cindy cried. She looked at herself, then turned on Jimmy. "Neutron!"

Jimmy looked uncomfortable. "Er … well Cindy, when history rewrote itself your gene sequence rewrote itself from conception to birth to your present age. There is a random factor involved, it's likely the gene for you having black hair was dominant … er, this time."

Cindy looked angry.

"Your mom has black hair," Carl said.

"Don't worry Cin," Libby tried to comfort her friend. "You can always dye it. Besides, you don't look bad."

"But I liked being a blond!" Cindy said. "Blondes have more fun."

"Well now you look a little more like Betty Quinlan," Sheen offered. "If you change that ponytail maybe …" he trailed off at Cindy's glare.

"Cindy, your hair changing color is a small price to pay for saving the world from Nazis," Jimmy explained.

Cindy thought about it then sighed. "I guess you're right Neutron. And at least I'm not shot anymore."

"So now what?" Libby asked. "We're not going to try to hypnotize Hitler again, are we?"

"Yeah, Jim," Sheen said. "Maybe we should leave well enough alone and return home."

"No!" Jimmy said. "We've come this far, endured this much, and I'm going to press on. But it's clear we need a different approach. Back to the TARDIS."

The gang hesitated and Goddard gave an inquisitive sort of bark.

"Where are we going Neutron, and what are we going to do?" Cindy asked.

"We're heading to Spital, Austria, where Hitler's parents live. 1880. We're going to stop them from ever marrying. No marriage, no Hitler at all, problem solved."

Again the gang hesitated.

"I dunno Jim," Carl said, "Isn't that a bit like murdering Hitler?"

"Carl! This is Adolf Hitler we're talking about, perhaps the most evil man in recorded history. We'd be doing the world a favor. Now come on, let's go."

The gang followed Jimmy into the TARDIS, it rose into the air, and disappeared.

--

Comments and Reviews very welcome!

I admit, not a whole lot happened that time, but they can't all be winners.

-I've got to get these guys where they need to be.


	8. Chapter 8

Consequences Chapter Eight

By Snazzo

WARNING: This Chapter contains mention of some scenes, like the Holocaust, that may be disturbing to younger or more sensitive viewers. Seriously.

--

The TARDIS landed outside a small Austrian village set in the hills. The gang piled out.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music!" Sheen sang, twirling about.

"Sheen!"

"What? Didn't the Sound of Music take place in Austria?"

"Sheen," Cindy said, "How on earth do you know anything about the Sound of Music?"

"You know I love to sing!" Sheen explained. "Besides, Julie Andrews was a total babe!"

Libby rolled her eyes.

"Let's go," Jimmy said, and led them down the valley, through a small woods, and into the village. Consulting his watch and Goddard for directions, they soon found themselves outside a small house. It seemed a poor house, but well kept.

"So what's the plan?" Cindy asked. "Are we just going to use the hypnobeam?"

"No, I don't think so. Unless we have to. After what just happened I'm kind of reluctant to use the hypnobeam again. Cindy, Libby, this is the home of Klara Polzl, Hitler's mother. She is not yet married to Alois Hitler, Hitler's father. I want you two to convince her not to marry."

"How on earth are we supposed to do that?" Cindy asked.

"And why us?" Libby added.

"Because you're girls!" Jimmy said. "You know all about marriage. Myself, I can't see why anyone would want to get married in the first place." Jimmy didn't notice that Cindy looked hurt at that comment. "Goddard, activate translation field." Goddard barked and did so.

"Jimmy, this isn't going to work," Libby said. "We don't know anything about Hitler's parents."

"That's why I have this for you," Jimmy said. He reached in his pocket and pulled out some small colorful squares. "Book Gum! The reddish one is 'The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler' by James Cross Giblin. The ochre one is 'Hitler: The Pathology of Evil' by George Victor. And the greenish-brown one is 'Adolf Hitler: the Definite Biography' by John Toland."

"What's that pink one?" Cindy asked.

"Pepto-Bismol. I'm afraid they're not going to taste too good."

Cindy and Libby took the Book Gum reluctantly. "The things we do for you, Neutron," Cindy said.

"Is three too many?" Libby asked. "Remember what happened to the Willie Loman 3000!"

"Three should be all right," Jimmy explained. "But take them one at a time, and chew slowly."

Cindy and Libby began to chew the gum.

"Gak!" Cindy said. "This tastes like bratwurst and sauerkraut, with just a hint of vomit. Give me that Pepto-Bismol!"

"Mine tastes like gasoline, mold, with a touch of dirty underwear," Libby said.

"All right," Cindy said after a few minutes of chewing. "I guess we're ready. Jimmy, let me borrow your watch."

"My watch?" Jimmy asked. "What on earth for?"

"I think we need disguises. I want holograms of us ten years older. Klara is more likely to listen to someone near her age than two little kids. She's about twenty years old now, right?"

"Yes that sounds about right," Jimmy agreed.

"And Alois Hitler is forty-three!" Libby exclaimed. "Gross!"

"Goddard can provide holographic camouflage, Cindy. He has to come with you to translate anyway. Goddard, disguise yourself and project holos of Cindy and Libby ten years from now."

Goddard barked. He shimmered and became a German Sheppard, but a younger one, so not to be too intimidating.

"Wow, Libby," Sheen said, "You look fantastic!"

Libby smiled at Sheen. "Do you really think so?" Libby was much taller and much more shapelier, indeed her waist looked ridiculously thin. She looked down at herself. "Are you sure I look okay?"

"Corsets were all the rage, Libby," Jimmy explained.

Both Libby and Cindy wore long dresses with bonnets. Like her original top, Cindy's dress was green and sported a great deal of ruffles about the legs. Libby's dress was white with a lilac pattern on it. Cindy's blonde hair was pulled up into a bun, while Libby's was cut short, curling at the shoulders.

"How do I look Neutron?" Cindy asked.

"Um, very nice," Jimmy stammered.

"Are you sure this isn't a bit too much?" Cindy asked. "From the looks of things, this is a rather poor part of town."

"No, you'll make a good impression," Jimmy said. "Good luck!"

The guys hid around the corner. Cindy and Libby looked at each, sighed, and knocked on the door.

"One moment!" came a woman's voice. The door opened and there stood a young blue-eyed woman with dark brown hair. She looked taken back at Cindy and Libby's appearance. "What can I do for you ladies?" Klara wore a simple blue dress, not at all as fancy as Cindy and Libby's, and no bonnet.

"Klara!" Cindy declared, smiling broadly and stepping in to hug the woman. "It is so good to see you again!"

Klara looked confused. "Do I know you?"

Cindy laughed. "Oh, Klara, you may have forgotten me, for I've changed a great deal. We went to school together. Remember Mrs. Steinberger's class? I sat two seats behind you. We used to past notes back and forth all the time, mostly about Frederick Johannson."

Klara smiled at that. "Frederick was a cutie." She looked at Libby.

"This is Libby," Cindy said. "She's my … er … Lady in Waiting."

"Nice to meet you!" Libby said and held out her hand.

Klara looked at Libby's hand, then up at her face, then carefully shook hands.

"Your own Lady in Waiting," Klara said. "You must have done well for yourself."

"Not bad," Cindy said. "I'm married to an American named James Neutron. He's quite successful in the railroad business. May we come inside?"

Klara looked uncertain but Cindy swept inside past her. Libby followed.

"Oh, Klara, it's lovely in here!" Cindy said. The sitting room was clean and presentable, but rather bare of furniture with no rug.

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing what you're used to in America, but its home."

"Libby, would you be a dear and make us some tea? With your permission of course, Klara."

"What?" Libby said, looking at Cindy.

"Libby…" Cindy said quietly.

"Oh," Libby hesitated, then said "Right away, ma'am." She left the room and Goddard trotted after her.

"Was she a slave?" Klara asked Cindy.

"No. We live in New York," Cindy answered. "Now Klara, even though I've done well for myself, I've heard a vicious rumor that you've got your eyes on someone. An older man!"

Klara blushed. "How did you hear about that?"

"Oh I have my ways," Cindy said with a laugh.

"You can't possibly have traveled all the way from America for that," Klara said.

"No, don't be silly. James is in Salzburg on business, and I just had to come here to see home again. And see you again!"

Libby returned with a set of tea in silver cups, with a teapot, and a small plate of cookies. Judging by how quick she returned, Cindy knew Goddard had provided the meal.

"Your tea, ma'am," Libby said, a bit icily.

"Thank you, Libby," Cindy said. "Please join us."

The ladies sipped their tea. "Klara, not only have I heard that this man of yours is over twenty years your senior, he is living with that Matzelberger woman while he's still married to his first wife Anna!"

Klara did look unhappy at that. "Anna is very ill, she probably won't survive much longer. But when she dies Alois says he'd like to marry me."

"And you believed him?" Libby asked.

"Well, I do care for him a lot. He's like an uncle to me."

"Yes about that," Cindy said. "Isn't Alois Hitler your first cousin, once removed?"

Klara looked uncomfortable. "You heard about that."

Cindy decided to be bold. "My dear, everyone has heard about that."

Klara hung her head. "Yes, the church isn't too happy about that little problem. Alois says he can submit an appeal, and pull the right strings, so the church won't mind."

Cindy sipped her tea. "Klara, you could do so much better than Alois Hitler. You're a young, attractive, and intelligent woman. Do you really want to be a third wife to an old man?"

"But he's so gentle and kind," Klara argued. "He always appreciated the work I do for him."

"He only sees you as a servant," Libby said. Klara worked for her husband-to-be as a servant girl. "Cindy has told me so much about you, I know you can do better yourself."

"But," Klara said, "But I think I love him. When he touches me …"

"Klara!" Cindy interrupted quickly. "Please. There are many better men in this village, many better men in this world, you just have to look for them."

"Yes," Libby agreed. "Don't make a mistake you'll have to live with the rest of your life."

Klara was silent a moment in thought. "I have had many of these doubts," she admitted. "I've sometimes wondered if he's only interested in me for my body. I've heard some of the things they say he does with Franziska Matzelberger. And SHE sent me out of the house because she thought Alois was paying too much attention to me, not her."

"He's just a no good womanizer, Klara," Libby said. "Find someone better, someone you can truly love, someone who will take care of you, not expect you to take care of them."

Klara thought about it. "That is pretty good advice," she said. "But why should I take advice from a Negro?"

"A what?!" Libby said, rising to her feet.

"Libby …" Cindy said cautiously. Then again, under her breath "It's 1880. The American Civil War is only just over. You might be the only African American in Austria, I don't know."

But Libby shook her head. "Cindy, I don't think we're getting anywhere. It's time for drastic measures."

"Libby," Cindy was worried. "What are you going to do?"

"Miss Klara Polzl," Libby said, "This is the most important thing you will ever hear in your life. We are from the future!"

Klara raised an eyebrow then looked at Cindy. "Is she all right?"

Cindy didn't know what to say.

"Goddard," Libby said, "Drop the holographic disguises."

Goddard barked a questioning sort of bark.

"Do it Goddard," Libby said. In a blink Cindy, Libby, and Goddard were back to normal.

"What on earth?" Klara exclaimed. "How did you do that? You're just children! Who are you really?" Then she spotted Goddard and leapt to her feet. "What in heaven's name is that?"

"A mechanical canine," Libby explained. "A robot dog. Goddard, do some tricks to impress Klara here."

Goddard barked. He got on his hind feet and danced a little dance while also providing the music. He threw a dish out of his back and blasted it with his eyes. He presented himself as a holographic lion, a zebra, and an elephant. He then flew around the room and landed in front of Klara, who was staring with eyes wide and mouth open.

"Klara, we are from the year 2006," Libby said.

"Libby!" Cindy cried. "Are you sure we should be doing this? What about the timeline and all that?"

"We've tried being sneaky," Libby told Cindy, "I'm going to try being direct. Klara, you will marry Alois Hitler after he has married Franziska Matzelberger, you will be his third wife. You will have a son named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler will grow up to become the most despised and hated man this world has ever known. The name "Hitler," even the name "Adolf" will be forever associated with evil. Your son will destroy most of Europe and Russia and cost literally millions of lives."

"How?" Klara asked. "How do you know this?"

"Because we've seen it," Libby explained. "In fact, you can see it for yourself. Goddard, could you provide some holographs please?" Goddard barked a yes. "This is Berlin, Germany, shortly before your son's death," Libby narrated. "As you can see, most of the city has been reduced to rubble. London, England, bombed by German bombers. Dresden, Germany, destroyed by a firestorm. Stalingrad, the Soviet Union, again rubble. Soviet and German casualties about 2 million. And perhaps an example of the most horrific crime in human history, these are some pictures of Auschwitz, Poland, and what your son did to six million Jewish people." Libby let those photos speak for themselves. Barbed wire, crematoriums, pits full of corpses, emaciated survivors just skin and bones, a bucket full of shrunken human heads.

When Goddard turned off his holograph Klara was in tears, holding a handkerchief to her eyes. "This can't be happening!" She sobbed. "What you're saying can't be true. But those pictures, so lifelike, so horrible! And that robot thing, it couldn't possibly be made today."

"It is true, Klara," Cindy said. "All of it. You must not marry Alois Hitler. Find yourself a good man and marry him. You will be much happier, and the world will be much happier as well. Do you want your flesh and blood to live forever in infamy?"

Klara shook her head.

"There are other men out there, Klara. I know you can find someone."

Klara hiccuped, sighed, and then said "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick!"

Libby held out a small pink square. "Take this, it'll help."

Klara took it. "What is it?"

"A medicine from the future called Pepto-Bismol."

"We are sorry to upset you, Klara," Cindy said, "But we came all the way here to tell you the truth. We'll be leaving now."

Cindy, Libby, and Goddard let themselves out, leaving Klara sniffling at the table.

"I don't know Libby," Cindy said as they stood outside the door. "Everything Jimmy has said, all that Star Trek stuff, some of the things I've read in science-fiction, Back to the Future. It's not a good idea to bring information from the future into the past, or from the past into the future."

"Cin," Libby said. "We've been mucking about in time for a couple days now. You got shot, I got erased. The sooner we stop this nonsense the better. I think this will work. Besides, in Terminator 2 they told that one guy about the future and altered it."

"Maybe you're right."

The girls went around the corner of the house but couldn't find Jimmy, Sheen and Carl. "Now where did they get to?" Cindy asked.

A finger came out of Goddard and pointed across the square. Jimmy, Sheen and Carl were sitting at a small café, eating Selchfleisch and Tafelspitz.

"What are you guys doing?" Cindy asked angrily. "You let us do all the hard work while you're sitting here eating!"

"I got hungry," Carl explained. "Try the Topfenstrudel, it's delicious."

"How'd it go?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, Jimmy, we did the best we could," Cindy said. "But you may have to use the hypnobeam on her after all. At least here there aren't any Nazis running around to steal it and shoot at you."

"Well let's go and check History and see if anything happened."

"Just a minute Neurton!" Cindy said. "We want to get something to eat too."

"But what about History?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh, all right," Cindy agreed. "We'll get our stuff to go."

--

They gang sat in the TARDIS munching on Austrian delicacies and pastries. Outside, it was dark.

"This doesn't look like Retroville, Jim," Carl said.

"It's not."

"Where are we?" Cindy asked. "When are we?"

"We're just outside of Warsaw, Poland," Jimmy said. "The date, September 1, 1939. The time, 4:30 A.M. local time. In fifteen minutes Nazi Germany will invade Poland, starting World War II."

"Uh, I dunno Jim," Carl said. "It was bad enough getting shot at with machine guns. I don't really want to be shot at by tanks and fighters."

"We can get out of here in an instant, Carl. I want to see this work!" Jimmy said eagerly. "We've had to go through such an ordeal, I have to see this work!" Jimmy fiddled with some controls on the dash and some music came on. "Radio Warsaw," Jimmy explained.

They ate their food in silence, in the dark TARDIS, lit only by the dash, the map light, and the glow of Goddard's eyes.

4:35

4:40

4:45

4:50

4:55

5:00 A.M.

"Jimmy, this is boring," Sheen said.

But Jimmy was excited. "Cindy! Libby! I think we've finally done it. I think YOU'VE finally done it! We've stopped World War II!" Jimmy gave Cindy a fierce hug, then jerked away, blushing. "You girls did it!" The radio continued to play music. No urgent news bulletins or panicked reports.

Cindy was blushing too, and thankful it was so dark out so no one could see. "Let's hope so, Jimmy."

"Let's go see what the future holds!" Jimmy said, programming the TARDIS for home.

--

Thanks for reading and as always, comments and reviews very much welcome.

For the first time I've tried some art that's decent enough to share. Please take a look:

snazzo42./art/Consequences-Jimmy-Neutron-99163892

This is over on DeviantART. If Consequences were a movie, this might be in the lobby of a theater. I don't have the time or the talent to do it like a comic book or graphic novel, but I thought I'd try this and see what it looks like. Comments there very welcome too!


	9. Chapter 9

Consequences, Chapter 9

By Snazzo

--

WARNING: This chapter contains violence, ludicrous amounts of death, injury and bloody bits, some inappropriate smooching, and somewhat adult themes like that. Younger and more sensitive viewers should read with caution.

--

Again Jimmy was saddened to see Retroville look pretty much the same as the TARDIS landed in the back yard. They hopped out and were immediately greeted with a loud wailing noise. "The Retroville Emergency Alert System!" Jimmy cried. "What's happening?"

Jimmy and the gang rushed to the clubhouse. "Vox, why is the Emergency Alert System activated?"

"President Gore has activated the nationwide Emergency Broadcast System," Vox replied.

"President Gore?" Cindy asked. "What happened to Bush?"

"George W. Bush is currently the governor of the state of Texas," Vox replied.

"Cindy!" Jimmy complained. "Focus! Vox, WHY has President Gore activated the nationwide Emergency Alert System?"

"NORAD's satellite imaging system and the Distant Early Warning Line have indicated that a massive nuclear attack is occurring against the United States at this time," Vox replied calmly. "Over 2000 missiles are inbound now, carrying approximately 6000 warheads targeting 4500 targets. 800 Soviet bombers are currently over Canada. Seismic sensors show multiple detonations on the Eastern and Western coasts. Communications have been lost with New York, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Diego."

Jimmy and the gang listened to Vox with mounting horror.

"What do we do?!" Carl cried. "What do we do?!"

"Vox!" Jimmy yelled. "Are any warheads targeting Retroville?"

"Yes," Vox replied.

"When?" Jimmy asked.

"Now," Vox answered.

A brilliant flash lit up the sky. Carl fell to the ground, his fists in his eyes, howling with pain. Cindy gripped Jimmy's arm tight with fear. Sheen leapt into Libby's arms.

A mushroom cloud silently blossomed into the heavens in the distance.

"We've got to take cover!" Jimmy cried, plucking a hair. He held it up to Vox but her eye was dark. "Vox? Vox! Vox!" He didn't get any response.

Libby dropped Sheen and rushed to Carl's side. "Jimmy, Carl's hurt!"

"I can't see!" Carl cried. "My eyes are on fire!"

"Jimmy!" Cindy yelled. "Something's the matter with Goddard!" Goddard lay on his side, his eyes dark.

"To the TARDIS everyone!" Jimmy ordered. "We have to get out of here now! Sheen and Libby, you help Carl! Cindy, help me with Goddard!" They scrambled into the TARDIS and shut the door. Jimmy tried to program a destination on the console then cried in dismay. "Something's wrong! Systems are down!"

Then the concussion wave hit. A tremendous roar shook the ground and their ears popped. They could hear the terrible blast in their chests. Jimmy saw the clubhouse explode into splinters. His house collapsed like a deck of cards before a billowing burning wall of fire. The trees in the yard were uprooted. The TARDIS was kicked into the air and tumbled head over heels as everyone inside screamed and fell about on each other.

With the mushroom cloud still rumbling in the distance, still climbing higher into the sky, the TARDIS landed upside down in the basement of the Wheezer home, among the burning wood, broken bricks, and shattered glass.

Sheen groaned and looked about. His head and right arm hurt. Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, Carl and Goddard were all piled in a heap on the roof of the TARDIS. It was dark outside but lit with an eerie red glow. A rumble, like thunder but continuous, sounded in the distance.

"Jimmy?" Sheen shook Jimmy by the shoulder. "Libby?"

Libby had a huge gash on her forehead that was swelling something awful. Her left foot seemed to be bent the wrong way, it looked quite painful. She didn't respond.

Carl's glasses were gone. His nose was bleeding.

Cindy's pony tail had come undone, her black hair hanging all about her face. She had a bruise on her left cheek and blood was trickling out of her mouth.

Jimmy didn't respond either. But Sheen was most concerned with Jimmy. While the others all had their eyes closed, Jimmy's eyes were open, staring blankly. "Jimmy?" Sheen shook Jimmy by the shoulder. "Jimmy?"

Cindy moaned and sat up. She put her hand to her cheek. "Blood? Again?"

"Cindy," Sheen said, "Something's wrong with Jimmy!"

Cindy crawled next to him and shook him. "Jimmy? Jimmy?" She put her hand on his wrist and felt for a pulse. Then she put her head on his chest and listened for a heartbeat. "Jimmy? Oh no, Jimmy, no!" She turned to Sheen. "Sheen! I think … I think Jimmy's dead!"

Sheen's eye twitched. "Dead? He can't be dead! He's the main character! This is a kid's show, for crying out loud!"

Cindy gave Sheen a quizzical look.

"I don't know why I said that," Sheen confessed.

Cindy was silent a moment, then tears began to form in her green eyes. "Oh Jimmy!" She fell onto his body and sobbed. "I never told you! I never told you! Oh, why was I so stupid? All those chances, and now I never can tell you! Oh Jimmy! Why did we start this adventure?"

Sheen sat by, feeling uncomfortable.

"Oh Jimmy, I love you!" Cindy bawled. "Please don't be dead! Please!"

Sheen put a hand on Cindy's trembling shoulder. She hesitated, then turned to him and buried her head in his chest, still crying. Sheen didn't know what to do, but patted her on the back.

After a time, Cindy composed herself, and wiped her nose on Sheen's shirt. "Sheen, we have to make this right. We have to bring Jimmy back."

"What?" Sheen asked. "How? The Electrolife? That's all the way in that bathroom in Egypt! We'd have to find the lost tomb again, and then find the bathroom. Man, that took forever."

"No Sheen," Cindy said. "We have a time machine. We have to stop this war from happening. Come on, first let's get these guys outside." One by one Sheen and Cindy carried their friends outside and sat them on the grass. Libby, Carl, Jimmy, and Goddard.

The sky was almost black but reflected down a red glow of Retroville burning. Ash floated gently down like falling snow. The mushroom cloud still loomed on the horizon, but now the winds were blowing it over; it looked smeared. Looking about Cindy counted four mushroom clouds in the distance.

"This is a nightmare! At least when everyone was a nasty Nazis they were alive! But now. The death toll must be in the millions!" Cindy looked across the street where her house used to stand and wondered about her parents. She felt tears come to her eyes again, but fought down the urge. She had to act. "Sheen, we have to get the TARDIS out of the Wheezer's basement and repaired."

"Uh Cindy," Sheen said, "I know you're the second smartest kid in the school, but I don't know if you're up to repairing a time machine! We would need a genius for that!"

"You used to be a genius," Cindy told Sheen.

"I was?"

"Yes. Maybe we can make you a genius again."

Sheen looked at Cindy. "What, you mean the Brain Gain Helmet? But Cindy! I went mad with power! I almost killed Carl and Jimmy!"

"We'll just have to be more careful this time," Cindy said.

Sheen said "Well if you think it's a good idea, Cindy, I guess its okay. But how do we get into the lab?"

"That shouldn't be a problem," Cindy said, and pointed. Sheen looked. The roof to the lab had collapsed. Where the Neutron's back yard once was, a great gaping hole stood. At the bottom, heaped in large piles, were inventions, dirt, a couple trees, ventilation shafts, and debris.

Cindy and Sheen climbed down a tree into the lab and began to search about. They searched for an hour, it seemed, until Cindy finally said "Sheen! Here it is!"

"That's it all right," Sheen said. "I hope it works or I don't know what we're going to do." Cindy put the Brain Gain Helmet on Sheen's head. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Cindy? Maybe you should use the Helmet."

"No, Sheen. I have other plans. I think I need to be Special Girl. I can lift the TARDIS out of the basement then."

"Okay."

Cindy turned on the Helmet but nothing happened. The kids were dismayed. She took the Helmet off and looked it over. Then opened it up and began to look about inside. "Sheen, find me some tools. A tool box or something."

"Sure thing Cindy," Sheen said and went looking. He returned later with a handful of tools.

"I'm no genius but I think it's just a broken connection," Cindy said. She used a soldering iron on some wires. Then she put the Helmet back on Sheen's head. "Let's try this again. And if I've got this figured out all right, I've programmed it to top off at 300 IQ, instead of an infinite IQ. We don't want that power hunger thing to happen again, nor your brain to explode. That's the last thing we need."

"Thanks Cindy," Sheen said. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Also, your intelligence won't be permanent, in case we can't get you to drain your brain. The effect should fade in twenty-four hours or so, if I've programmed it properly."

"Wow Cindy! I had no idea you were so good with electronics!"

"Hey, I'm not just a ditzy blond Sheen."

"You're not blond anymore, Cindy."

"Yes, I know that Sheen." Cindy looked at Sheen. Then she put her hand on his shoulder. "Sheen, I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you all the time. Calling you names, and making fun of Ultralord. We're going to have to really work together to get out of this."

"I don't know what to say!" Sheen said. "What brought that on?"

"I'm not sure myself. Heavy thoughts I guess. Here we go Sheen." Cindy switched on the Brain Gain Helmet and this time it did light up. It's dials twirled, it glowed, and Sheen jerked about a bit. "Sheen? Are you okay?"

"Godel's Second Incompleteness Theorem states that 'For any formal recursively enumerable theory T including basic arithmetical truths and also certain truths about formal provability, T includes a statement of its own consistency if and only if T is inconsistent.'" Sheen said.

"You spoke Math!" Cindy said with a smile.

Sheen took off the Helmet. "Electromagnetic Pulse," he said.

"Huh? What's that?" Cindy asked.

"When a nuclear device detonates in the atmosphere it can disrupt the earth's electromagnetic field," Sheen explained. "The resulting shockwave can damage electronics over a wide area. Cars, computers, cell phones, airplanes, power plants, televisions – all of them will stop working. That's what happened to Vox, the TARDIS, and Goddard. The Brain Gain Helmet, and probably many of Jimmy's other inventions, were shielded underground so they should be okay."

"What do we do about it?" Cindy asked.

"I'll have to fix them," Sheen said. "I think I should start with Goddard, he'll be a big help. He can help me repair the TARDIS, and he has first aid protocols to help with Carl and Libby." Sheen picked up the tools Cindy was using. "I'll get started."

"Great Sheen, I'll see about getting the TARDIS out of the basement."

Sheen climbed out of the lab while Cindy continued to look about. She went over to the Isolation Chamber and found it cracked open. Unfortunately the N-Men packets had spilled into a heap. Cindy looked down at the powder sadly. It looked like the Love Potion was mixed up in it too. What's more something had spilled on the powders Cindy wasn't sure what; oil or hydraulic fluid. What a mess!

So that wouldn't work.

Cindy continued to look about. She found a picture of Betty Quinlan. "That Neutron!" she said. "I thought he was supposed to throw all those out!" Then her eyes fell on what looked like a fancy printed invitation. She picked it up and read it.

_Dear Cindy,_

_It's been almost a year since we were stranded on that island together. I wanted you to know those few days were some of the best of my life. I was hoping you would like to return to the island with me next month for an "anniversary" weekend. We may not be able to get the treehouses built again, but we could camp on the beach under the stars, drink smoothies, and go swimming. Please let me know what you think._

_Your friend,_

_Jimmy_

Cindy stared at the invitation a long while, and felt tears in her eyes again. "Oh Jimmy!" she sniffled. She kissed the invitation, folded it carefully, and put it in her pants pocket.

Cindy continued to look around the ruined lab. Picking up Jimmy's Hall Monitor helmet she found the shrink ray underneath. Now that was an idea! She tried the shrink ray on the helmet and it worked.

Cindy climbed out of the lab. She approached Sheen, who was busy tinkering away at Goddard. "Any luck Sheen?"

"Almost there Cindy," Sheen replied without looking up.

Cindy walked toward the Wheezer's basement then stopped and looked back at Sheen. She never noticed it before, but Libby was right, Sheen was pretty cute. She stared at him a long moment then shook her head. Where did that come from?

Cindy went up to the TARDIS. She aimed the shrink ray at it and shrunk it down to the size of a Matchbox car. She then carried it over to the Wheezer's back yard and set it down. Seconds later it was the proper size again. Cindy put the shrink ray in the glove compartment; it might come in handy. She returned to where Sheen was. "I got the TARDIS out of the basement Sheen," she told him.

"That's great Cindy," Sheen said. "I'm done with Goddard. He's rebooting right now."

Cindy smiled at Sheen. Then before she knew what she was doing, she was throwing herself at him and kissing him on the lips.

"Cindy!" Sheen cried. "What are you doing?"

"Oh Sheen!" Cindy said, covering his face with kisses. "I can't help myself! I love you!"

But Sheen was a genius now. "Oh no, Cindy! The love potion! You didn't take it, did you?"

"No Sheen! This is REAL!"

"You said you were going to be Special Girl. The N-Men packets were in the isolation chamber with the love potion. Did you go in there?"

"The isolation chamber was cracked open. Everything was spilled on the floor," Cindy explained. "I used the shrink ray instead. Now stop talking and kiss me, you handsome hunk of man!" Cindy threw Sheen down and jumped on top of him, kissing him madly.

"Cindy!" Sheen said between kisses. "The love potion is airborne! All you need to do is take a good whiff of the pheromones. Please stop it! What would Libby say? What would Jimmy say? You were crying over Jimmy not five minutes ago!"

"Jimmy who?" Cindy asked.

"Cindy, think logically a second. You're only eleven years old!"

Cindy stopped and thought about it. "Logic has nothing to do with love!" she declared, and kissed Sheen again.

Suddenly Goddard barked. Sheen looked at Goddard and Goddard looked back at him. From the look on Goddard's face, he was on the verge of speech, as if to say "What on earth is going on here?!"

"Goddard!" Sheen gasped. "Do you have any Gouda-Feta cheese?"

Goddard nodded. A hand came out of his back and held out a piece of the cheese. Sheen took it.

"Cindy, here is a token of my love for you, my darling," Sheen said, handing her the Gouda-Feta.

"Oh Sheen!" Cindy squealed. "It's beautiful!" Then she sniffed. "Sheen?" A look of horror came over Cindy's face. "Oh no! OH NO!" Cindy stood up and backed away from Sheen.

Sheen stood up too. "It's okay Cindy," he said.

"It's NOT okay! Sheen! I kissed you! On the lips!" Cindy stuck out her tongue. She took out a bar of soap and washed her tongue with it.

"Where'd you get that soap?" Sheen asked. Before she can answer Goddard started barking frantically. "What is it Goddard?"

Goddard lifted up his head. On his chest screen it read "WARNING! DANGEROUS RADIATION LEVELS! SEEK SHELTER AT ONCE!"

"Oh great," Sheen said. "Fallout. We're all probably very radioactive by now."

"Fallout?" Cindy asked. "I know what it is. Dust and stuff that's sucked up by an atomic bomb then falls back down to earth. But what will it do to us?"

"Hair loss," Sheen said. "Bleeding gums. Bleeding intestinal walls. Burns on the skin. Cataracts. Nausea and vomiting. Cancers and possible mutations."

Goddard held out two small pills in one of his robotic hands.

"What's this Goddard?" Cindy asked.

"NEUTRONIC RAD-CLEAR PILLS," Goddard's chest screen said. "WILL PROTECT AGAINST RADIATION."

Sheen and Cindy swallowed the pills.

Goddard walked over to where Jimmy lay and sniffed at his hand.

"Goddard," Cindy began. "Something terrible has happened."

Goddard looked at Cindy.

"There's been a war. A nuclear war. I'm afraid … I'm afraid Jimmy is dead!"

Goddard shook his head.

"What do you mean no?" Cindy asked.

Goddard lifted his head again. His chest screen read "JIMMY'S VITALS:" At the top was a brain wave activity, showing a weak trembling line, with a report below it saying "MINIMAL." Beneath that was a EKG heartbeat, beating slowly and irregularly, with a report below that saying "CONDITION CRITICAL BUT STABLE."

"You mean Jimmy is alive!" Cindy gasped.

"How do you know Goddard?" Sheen asked.

"JIMMY'S WRISTWATCH MONITORS VITALS," Goddard's screen said. "BESIDES, THIS IS A KID'S SHOW. … I DON'T KNOW WHY I SAID THAT," Goddard added.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Cindy cried, and knelt down besides Jimmy. She kissed his hand. Then she turned on Sheen and said "So help me Sheen, if you tell Jimmy I kissed you, or that I said I love him, I will knock you into next week! And you won't even need a time machine!"

"Okay! Okay!" Sheen agreed. The two stared at each other a moment, Cindy's eyes blazing. "You know, Cindy, you could just tell Jimmy."

Cindy sighed. "No. You're right Sheen. Jimmy would just laugh. We are too young." Cindy looked at Jimmy and sighed again.

"I think you should tell him all the same," Sheen said.

"Have you told Libby?"

"Er, well, no," Sheen confessed. "She said we should work on our friendship first."

"That's good advice," Cindy agreed. Then suddenly she blanched. "Oh no! CRAP! Goddard, scan the skies for Soviet bombers!"

Sheen gasped too. "I forgot! 800 of them! Air defense and fighters would take down sixty percent of them, but we can't afford to be hit again!"

Goddard's radar dish came out of his back and twirled about. He showed his chest screen again. The kids sighed in relief when it showed all clear.

"Bombers are slow compared to missiles, especially submarine based missiles," Sheen explained. "It could be another couple hours, and they could have other targets."

"Goddard, keep an eye out for bombers," Cindy said. "Check every few minutes, okay?"

Goddard nodded in agreement.

"Well," Sheen said. "I guess I better get to work on the TARDIS. Cindy, if you don't mind, I think you and Goddard should take care of Jimmy, Carl, and Libby. We may be able to undo their injuries when we stop this war from happening, but they shouldn't have to suffer in the meantime."

"Good idea, Sheen," Cindy said.

"Oh, and Cindy," Sheen said. "Jimmy doesn't know how lucky he is to have found a girl like you."

Cindy blushed. "Why on earth would you say that Sheen?"

"Because you're a great kisser," Sheen said.

Cindy smacked Sheen upside the head and he was knocked head over heels.

--

Comments and reviews very welcome! I hope it wasn't too graphic for y'all.

"I don't know if World War Three will be fought with nuclear weapons. But I know IF World War Three is fought with nuclear weapons, World War Four will be fought with sticks and stones."


	10. Chapter 10

Consequences, Chapter 10

By Snazzo

--

Cindy and Goddard tended to Jimmy, Libby, and Carl. With Goddard's help and diagnosis tools they put a cast on Libby's foot. They hooked an IV up to Jimmy's arm. They wrapped bandages around Carl's eyes. They cleaned up and put little Band-Aids all over the various cuts and bruises. And they gave each of them something for the pain and some Neutronic Rad-Clear pills.

Carl and Libby came around.

"I want my mommy," Carl whimpered.

"Everything's going to be all right Carl," Cindy said, patting his hand. "We'll find her soon. We're just having, uh, technical difficulties."

"Oh, my leg!" Libby groaned.

"Why can't I see?" Carl asked, touching his bandages with his hands.

"You hurt your eyes Carl," Cindy explained. "Goddard says you have retina burns."

"What happened to me Cindy?" Libby asked.

"You have a broken ankle," Cindy said.

"Great," Libby said. "What happened? I don't remember much at all, except … except a loud explosion."

"There's been a war, I'm afraid. A nuclear war. I'm not sure how. Before Vox shut down she said the Soviets were attacking."

"The Soviets?" Carl asked. "What happened to the nasty Nazis?"

"I don't know," Cindy confessed. "And the Soviets doesn't make sense. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, I think. And Russia is our friends now. Not the best of friends, but not our enemies."

Libby looked at Sheen under the hood of the TARDIS. "What on earth is Sheen doing over there?"

"He's working on repairing the TARDIS."

"Sheen?? Are you mad? Why not Jimmy?" Libby looked at Jimmy laying next to her.

"Jimmy's in a coma," Cindy said sadly. "Goddard says his brain is swelling due to head trauma."

"Wouldn't a bigger brain make him smarter?" Carl asked.

"No, I don't think it works that way this time," Cindy said.

"Cindy?" Carl asked. "Will I get my sight back?"

"Yes, Carl, in time. As soon as we can stop this war from happening."

"But Cindy," Libby said. "You didn't answer my question. What does Sheen know about time travel?"

"I put the Brain Gain Helmet on him," Cindy explained.

"Oh no Cindy!" Libby exclaimed. "I'm not going through that big-freaky-head-thing again!"

"Relax, Libs, it should be all right this time," Cindy assured her friend.

Sheen came over. He looked down at Libby, then hugged her.

"What's that for?" Libby asked.

"I'm just glad you're all right, Libby," Sheen said.

"Oh. Thanks Sheen," Libby smiled.

"Well, I've got some good news and some bad news," Sheen said. "The TARDIS is repaired, but it doesn't work."

"That doesn't make sense Sheen," Cindy said.

"The TARDIS is powered by an artificial self-sustaining microfusion reaction held in an electromagnetic stasis field," Sheen explained. "It was damaged and shut down during the blast."

"Sheen," Cindy said. "I'm not sure what you just said!"

"The TARDIS has a tiny itsy bitsy little sun in its engine to power it," Sheen said. "And the sun's gone out. We need a powerful charge of energy to jumpstart the sun! And I can't figure out where we're going to get that kind of power."

The gang were silent a minute.

"Goddard?" Libby offered.

"Goddard's battery is very weak," Sheen said.

"How about Jimmy's tabletop nuclear reactor?" Cindy asked.

"That was damaged with the lab, I checked. It looks like it was thrown against the wall and had an emergency shut down. I can't repair it."

"Well what powers Vox and all of Jimmy's experiments?" Cindy asked.

"Very efficient solar panels, on the Neutron house and the clubhouse too," Sheen said. He held up what looked like a normal roof shingle. "Unfortunately, with the cloud cover…" Sheen looked up at the menacing sky.

"And the fact that the houses are rubble," Libby added. "How about the Retroville power plant then?"

"That's certainly destroyed beyond repair," Sheen said. "Possibly vaporized. It was much closer to ground zero."

Libby smiled and put a hand on Sheen's shoulder. "Sheen, I can't get over you talking like that."

"Is there something wrong with my elocution?" Sheen asked.

Libby just smiled again.

"Well how about any one of Jimmy's other experiments?" Cindy asked. "You said most of them work."

"Sorry, Cindy," Sheen said. "They just can't generate that kind of power."

"I have an idea," Carl said. "How about Shmengel?"

"Shemengel?" Cindy asked. "Your son?"

"Carl!" Sheen exclaimed. "That's a brilliant idea!"

"But Sheen," Cindy said, "We'd have to find Shmengel and that could take awhile. And we need the TARDIS to get into outer space in the first place, and we can't use the TARDIS because it's broken!"

"Ah, but Cindy," Sheen held up a finger, "Jimmy has other rockets and they work fine. And if you can fly one to Mars, I should be able to fly one anywhere."

"But it's a big galaxy!" Libby said. "You guys said Shemengel isn't always at Planet Shmengie. He could be anywhere!"

"But I know right where my son is," Carl said. He fumbled in his back pocket and pulled out a postcard, folded in half. The others looked at it.

_Hello Mom!_

_My other Mom had a conference here on Jupiter, and she brought me with because I did so well last semester. She's just attending boring meetings but I'm having a blast. I've met some new friends and we spend most the day surfing and bobbing around the Giant Red Spot. The winds are only 5000 mph, but it's a lot of fun. We sometimes go up to Europa for a swim in the chilly oceans, or over to Io to bathe in the lava. The weather has been great, only once did it rain liquid helium. Mom and I go out to eat every night. The plasma and electrostorms are delicious. Mom says we should have time to stop by Earth before returning home. I'll e-mail you then. Bye for now! _

_Love, Shmengel_

"Aw, how sweet," Cindy said.

"Jupiter isn't far," Libby added.

"We may not even have to go to Jupiter," Sheen reasoned. "The earth's satellite communication system is still in orbit, still working. Carl, how do you e-mail Shmengel?"

"I just do," Carl answered, putting away the postcard. "Shmengel says since he's made of energy, he just picks up the words floating in space. And then he thinks a response, and it appears in my mailbox."

"Goddard!" Sheen said. "Can you access the Internet?"

Goddard looked to the left, then the right, then lifted up his chest panel. "NO WIRELESS PORTALS FOUND," he said.

"I didn't think so but it worth trying," Sheen said. "Here's what we're going to do. Goddard, Carl and I will fly up to one of the communications satellites and send a message for Shmengel to come here. Then we'll return and charge up the TARDIS."

"Okay Sheen," Cindy agreed. "Sounds like a plan."

Down in the lab Cindy and Sheen cleared some debris off Jimmy's rocket, then helped Carl inside it. Goddard and Sheen climbed inside. Without announcing "Turbines to speed" Sheen took off and flew up into the clouds.

Cindy returned to Libby. "I don't feel comfortable without Goddard scanning the skies," she said. "The bombers could show up any minute, or another missile attack. We're going to wait inside the TARDIS. I think that alien technology saved us the first time. Look at the time machine, the windows aren't even broken, there isn't a scratch on its metal."

"Okay Cindy," Libby agreed. "I just wish they had some seatbelts or airbags."

"I'll help you first then I'll come back for Jimmy," Cindy said. She helped her friend to her feet. "Lean on me, Libs." They limped toward the TARDIS.

"In the meantime, Cindy, you can tell me why you have that stinky piece of cheese around your neck," Libby said suspiciously.

"Oh that!" Cindy laughed, looking nervous and blushing. "It's the silliest story, Libby."

--

In low earth orbit Sheen, Carl and Goddard approached a satellite. Looking back at the earth Sheen said "This is awful! Just look at poor earth!"

"Sheen, I can't see it," Carl said.

"Oh. Sorry. Where it used to be blue and green and white, it's now mostly gray and black. Smoke and dust. I can see some flashes of lightning and some fires burning." A few small pinpoints of bright white blossomed and faded among the darkness, further nuclear explosions. Sheen couldn't see the coastline, but thought it was probably Washington D.C getting hit again. He sighed "We've got to set this right Carl."

"I'm all for that, Sheen," Carl agreed. "I miss my Mom and Dad. And I worry about Elke. Do you think Sweden would have been attacked?"

"I don't know," Sheen admitted. "I don't think Sweden had a military importance, but in this timeline I don't know." Sheen stopped the rocket next to the satellite. He noted it was a Soviet satellite, the red Soviet flag proudly displayed on its side, and CCCP written above it. "Goddard, access the satellite."

Goddard barked and stuck his tail into a port.

"Bring your voice interface online, Goddard. Carl can't very well read your screen."

"Very well, Sheen," Goddard said in his metallic voice.

"There you go, Carl, send a message to Shmengel."

Carl had been thinking what to say on the trip up from Texas. "Dear Shmengel. Hello, this is your Mom, Carl. I hope all is well on Jupiter. Shmengel, we really need your help. Something terrible has happened on Earth and I think you're the only one that can help us. Please come as soon as you can. Bring your mother if she can get away. Please hurry. Love, your mom, Carl."

"Message transmitted," Goddard said.

"Now we just have to wait Sheen," Carl said.

Goddard provided some music for Carl to listen to, while he and Sheen played holographic three-level chess. Sheen still being a genius, he beat Goddard three games to two. After about ten minutes Goddard barked, then said "Incoming Message. 'Mom, we got your message and we're on our way. Love, Shmengel.'"

"I wonder how long it will take them to get here from Jupiter?" Sheen asked. "Shmengel and his mother usually are floating around quite leisurely."

"I think they can go pretty fast if they want to, Sheen," Carl replied.

Another five minutes later Goddard barked and pointed with his nose, standing on the hood of the rocket. At first Sheen couldn't see anything, but then he saw six moving stars. After thirty seconds they had grown closer, and appeared to be tiny comets, trailing streaks of light. And shortly after that, Shmengel arrived. He didn't bring his mother, though, with him were three other creatures that looked like Shmengel, and two other creatures that looked like gigantic white CDs, with a large blue ball where the hole should be. Sheen was uncertain if they were really creatures, or ships; they looked metallic.

But Sheen greeted Shmengel and gave him a hug. Electricity ripped over Sheen's body, making his hair stand up and his eyes bug out. Shmengel gently reached out a tentacle and draped it grasped Carl's hand. Carl too jolted with electricity.

"Mom," Goddard said, speaking as Shmengel's voice. "I can see something terrible HAS happened. The Earth, what happened to it? And what happened to you? Are you okay? It looks like you're in pain!"

"We'll explain on the way down, Shmengel," Carl said. "We better hurry."

Sheen started the rocket and the six creatures followed him down into the smoke and ashes.

By the time they reached Retroville, or the smoldering crater that once was Retroville, Shmengel knew all about their adventures. Shmengel had in turn introduced his other friends, Shmengizz, Shmenquill, Shmenipply, and Bob. And the two disc aliens, who indeed were aliens, he had met on Jupiter. Pokus by species, they were named Va'tor-ka and Va'TOR-ka.

Cindy came out of the TARDIS to greet them. Nothing had happened in Retroville in the meantime. With Sheen's help, Cindy removed the still unconscious Jimmy from the TARDIS, then helped Libby out too. She limped between the two.

"Give it a try, Shmengel," Sheen said, opening the hood of the TARDIS. Shmengel and his fellow Shemgians linked tentacles, and then Shmengel touched another tentacle to one of the Pokus. The two Pokus floated side by side, then began to glow. Electricity arced between them, and up Shmengel's tentacle. Shmengle put yet another tentacle into the TARDIS's engine, and the entire car glowed white and rose into the shimmering air, shedding sparks and smoke. After a minute, the aliens all broke apart and the TARDIS came back to Earth.

Sheen peered inside. "Awesome! The engine is running again! Shmengel, you guys have saved us!" Sheen gave Shmengel a hug.

Carl hugged him too. "Thanks, son. I'm sorry to have bothered you on vacation."

"Mom!" Shmengel said through Goddard. "You're my mom and I love you. You know I'd do anything for you."

Libby limped over to Shmengel, hesitated, and hugged him too. Her hair shot straight out and she shook in the air. Her hair was still a frazzled mess when she let go. "I'm sorry, Sheen, I just do see your fascination in large jolts of electricity! But I do thank you Shmengel. And it was nice to finally meet you and your friends."

Even Cindy hugged the alien. "Yes, thank you Shmengel," she said as her black ponytail stood straight up. But when Cindy stepped away Sheen gasped.

"Cindy! OH NO! You've damaged your quantum stabilizer!" he cried, pointing.

Cindy looked down at the small band on her arm. It was visibly smoking and sparking. "Uh, remind me what this does again?" she asked.

"It keeps your atoms stable as we travel in time," Sheen explained. "We might have accidentally erased your existence, like what happened to Libby!"

"Great," Cindy groaned. "Now what?"

"We'll find out in a second," Sheen said nervously.

A large pop came from the stabilizer and it shorted out. Cindy's form shimmered as her History was rewritten.

"You're hair is blond again, girlfriend!" Libby said, pointing, then fell silent. Her eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth, looking at Sheen in confusion and horror.

"Oh, that's good," the blond girl said. "I just didn't like black. But I can see it on your face, Libby, SOMETHING has gone wrong. AGAIN! Is my nose too big now?"

"No …" Sheen said slowly, "But you do have pigtails."

"Sheen," Britney laughed, "I've ALWAYS had pigtails. You said that's what first attracted Jimmy to me, that and my cute belly button." She put her small hand to her flat tummy.

Sheen and Cindy starred at each other, and then back at Britney, who stood there before them in her pink outfit. Sheen sighed. "Time travel is REALLY starting to become annoying."

--

Thanks for reading! Comments and reviews very much welcome!!

The next update may take awhile. What I've posted so far was written a long time ago but now I've caught up, so to speak.

Snazzo doesn't own Jimmy Neutron.


	11. Chapter 11

Consequences, Chapter 11

By Snazzo

--

Sheen and Cindy were quiet. Britney walked over and knelt by Jimmy. "Oh, Jimmykins," she said, putting her small hand on Jimmy's big forehead. "Why? Oh why did we start this adventure?" She bent over and kissed Jimmy on the lips.

"Britney!" Libby exclaimed in shock. "What ARE you doing? What are you doing here?"

Britney looked up at Libby. "Libs, are you okay? Sheen, radiation can't affect memory or anything like that, can it?"

Sheen shook his head silently.

"Uh, no offense Britney," Libby said, "but … but you're not supposed to be here!"

"Libs! What kind of crack is that?" Britney gasped. "We're best friends! We've known each other for years! Where else would I be?"

Libby fiddled with her hands. "We have known each other for years, Britney, that's true. And you're a good friend. But Cindy Vortex was here a second ago, and she's my best friend."

"Cindy who?" Britney asked.

"Cindy Vortex!" Libby said. "She's the second smartest kid in school!"

"You know, Britney," Sheen explained. "Blond hair, pony tail, a very big mouth, argues with Jimmy all the time."

Britney looked confused. "Sheen, Amber is the second smartest kid in school! But I'm definitely the hottest. Jimmy just couldn't keep his eyes off me, nor his hands, or lips for that matter."

"Too much information!" Carl finally spoke up. "Britney, I can hear you, it sounds like you, but are you saying you're – you know – you're Jimmy's girlfriend?"

"Of course!" Britney replied.

"Since when?" Libby demanded.

"Oh, we've liked each other since we co-hosted Zero Gravity Funky Jam Dance Party With Some Science," Britney said. "Jimmy said I was a beautiful dancer. But I guess things really got serious the time we were marooned on the Island."

"YOU were marooned on the Island???" Libby asked.

"Don't you remember Libs?" Britney asked. She sighed. "Oh, only the most romantic time of my life." Britney reached into her pink top and pulled out a pearl hanging on a golden chain. "Jimmy gave me this. It was the first time we kissed."

Sheen and Libby gaped at Britney.

It had taken a lot of talking with Cindy, but Libby had finally learned of what had happened on the Island, and Cindy had shown her the pearl. Cindy had kept it in her keepsake box. Libby in turn had told Sheen, who had in turn posted it on his blog, not knowing any better. Cindy was furious at that! But now Sheen could completely recognize the pearl as the exact same one.

Libby said "Excuse us a second, Britney, I have to talk to Sheen about something."

"Sure thing, Libs," Britney said.

Sheen helped Libby limp over near the TARDIS. "Sheen!" Libby demanded. "What has happened now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sheen exclaimed. "It would appear in this timeline Britney and Jimmy are an item. Though I can't imagine what Jimmy saw in Britney. She is very cute but she doesn't have Cindy's intelligence."

"Cute?" Libby asked.

"Uh. In a blond belly-button sort of way. I prefer dazzling young girls named Libby though," Sheen said.

"Nice recovery," Libby said. "Couldn't we just get a quantum stabilizer out of the glove box and put it on Britney and bring Cindy back?"

"No, I don't think so," Sheen answered. "All I can suggest is let's travel back in time, I'd say about a week or so before the war, and see if we can figure out what happened to the world, and what happened to Cindy." Libby and Sheen returned to the group.

"Shmengel," Carl said, "I thank you much for your help. But you better be getting back to Jupiter," Carl said. "I don't want your mother to worry about you. You did tell her you were leaving, didn't you?"

"Of course, Mom," Shmengel replied through Goddard. "She said she was sorry she couldn't come, she couldn't get away, but hoped you were all right. … You are going to be all right, aren't you Mom?"

"I think so, eventually," Carl said. "I'll send you a message when everything is back to normal."

"We'll figure things out," Sheen said.

"Goodbye!" Shmengel said. "Take care!" The other Shmengies and the Pokus bobbed up and down in farewell, then lifted into the air.

"Well gang, let's not waste any more time," Sheen said. "Let's get into the TARDIS."

"Time?" Britney asked. "Gak! Those time jokes are getting lame."

* * * *

A short trip later the TARDIS appeared in the backyard, a complete backyard with a clubhouse, trees, green grass, and the Neutron house standing in the sunshine. The gang piled out.

"Oh," Britney squealed, "It is so good to see the blue sky! For awhile there I thought I'd never see it again." She walked to the clubhouse and held her pigtail up to Vox's eye and the door opened.

"Britney!" Sheen gasped. "How did you do that?"

"Oh, Sheen-Bean, Jimmy granted me complete access to the clubhouse a long time ago," Britney explained with a smile. "We often meet down there for privacy." Britney winked.

"Sheen-Bean?" Libby asked. "Uh, never mind. … Sheen, shouldn't we take these guys to the hospital? I'm sure they could use some help, especially Jimmy."

"I don't think so, Libby," Sheen replied. "It was a big enough mess to explain how Cindy got shot. Explaining how we all got so injured would make a huge mess."

"But you're a genius now," Libby said. "You should be able to create some truly impressive lies."

"There you go with that Cindy again!" Britney said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'M the one that got bayoneted by those nasty Nazis, Libs."

Sheen frowned. "Let's get into the clubhouse and see what we can discover."

In the lab Goddard and Britney helped Jimmy, Libby, and Carl into the infirmary, making them as comfortable as can be. Sheen sat down in front of Vox and began to type furiously.

"You really don't remember us being best friends, Libby?" Britney asked sadly.

Libby shook her head. "I'm sorry Britney, I don't. We've been to movies together, and jumped rope, slumber parties, and lab partners, but it's Cindy Vortex who I tell my secrets to."

"Like the fact that you really did enjoy "Odeling to the Oldies," even if the plant didn't? How you yodeled 'Johnny B Good' in your underwear? And 'Jailhouse Rock' in the shower until your mother rushed in thinking you had fallen and hurt yourself and were crying in pain?" Britney said with a small smile.

"What?!" Libby gasped. "How? How? How did you know that?"

Britney merely patted Libby on her arm. "I am kinda ditzy, I'll admit Libs. But I do kinda grasp how weird this time travel stuff can be. You'll just have to accept the fact that we're best friends for now."

"Are we best friends?" Carl asked.

"We're good friends, Carl," Britney said. "We dated a few times, and I liked you a lot, but once Jimmy and I became serious I told you it wouldn't be good to keep seeing each other, and you agreed. You said you couldn't do that to Jimmy."

Carl blushed. "Me? I dated you Britney?"

"Just a few malts and sundaes at the Candy Bar, but yes Carl," Britney said. "I think it's neat that you can tie a knot in the stem of a maraschino cherry with your tongue."

"What?!?" Libby and Carl and Goddard gasped.

Britney laughed. "I'm just being silly. We never kissed, Carl. You were too shy."

"Well, I've got some good news and some less good," Sheen said, walking over.

"What's the good news?" Carl asked.

"We've succeeded in stopping World War Two. There is no mention of a Nazi Germany, a Holocaust, or even an Adolph Hitler in any census records or history books. He's gone. Never existed."

"Yeah," Carl said weakly.

"What's the bad news?" Britney asked.

Sheen sighed. "Where to begin? The United States remained in an economic depression through the early 1950s. They remained an isolationist nation until the present, taking little concern in European, Asian, or African affairs, except for The Japan Incident, which was the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in July of 1942 and the failed invasion of that island a few days later.

"The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin, on the other hand, grew to astronomical power. Nazis never marched to within view of Moscow, Stalingrad never suffered a siege. The Soviet Union absorbed Poland on October 10th, 1941. France and England protested but took no action. Finland, Sweden, and Norway fell to Communist revolutions in the fall of 1942. Germany, Austria, Hungary and Italy agreed to join what was called the Soviet Protection Pact on January 1st, 1945, saying they feared invasion by France and Britain."

"Where was America during all this?" Britney demanded. "And England with that Winston Churchill guy? Churchill would never have stood for all that, according to what Miss Fowl said."

"Churchill was concerned, and he was in the British military, Secretary of the Navy, but he had no power in the government. He was never made prime minister. The British desperately tried to hold on to their empire, but Soviet backed Communist revolutions swept India, Pakistan, and most the Middle East by 1953. America was just coming out of the Great Depression when the Soviet Union tested the first atomic bomb on July 5th, 1954. The Americans rushed to catch up and the Cold War began."

"What about Vietnam and Korea?" Carl asked.

"Communist nations now, Carl. No war at all, which is good and bad. No American troops dead, no monuments in Washington DC, but more places for more missiles. The nuclear war, it seems, began with the Cuban Missile Crisis." Sheen continued.

"The Cuban Missile Crisis?" Libby asked. "What's that?"

"We haven't got that far in History Class," Sheen explained. "In 1962, in the original time line, the United States discovered that the Soviet Union was putting nuclear missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade. There was a military buildup in Florida, in anticipation of the invasion of Cuba. It was the closest the world has ever come to a nuclear war. The Soviet embassy in Washington burned important files. People lined up at twenty-four-hour confessionals, fearing the worst. There was a lot of confusion in the government about what to do, many generals wanted strategic bombing or a first-strike nuclear attack. All kinds of mistakes and bad moves escalated the crisis almost beyond control: an American nuclear test, an American rocket launch, an American spy plane straying into Soviet Air Space. Americans bought batteries and stockpiled food. The crisis finally ended when the Soviets agreed to dismantle the missiles, and the United States secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey.

"Now it seems that whole crisis was delayed by decades. We're right in the middle of it. Four days ago spy planes discovered missile sites under construction in Cuba. Two days ago President Gore spoke to the nation saying he would not allow the Soviet to endanger American lives, or endanger the entire Western Hemisphere with 'Their reckless and provocative actions.' He has ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and he has issued an ultimatum, the Soviets must agree to dismantle and withdraw the Cuban missiles within one week or face a 'massive military response of devastating power to keep the Western Hemisphere free of the Soviet menace.' The world's nuclear arsenal is HUGE. America not only has radar in Canada, but missile silos too. And missiles in Greenland, Brazil, Argentina and Antartica. The Soviets have missiles all throughout Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. There have been no arms reduction talks whatsoever. VOX tapped into the Military Defense Network; American submarines are already on station near the Soviet Union, and the Soviets are near us. Attack submarines are also lurking near them. Bombers are on Stand By. And there are nuclear missile satellites in orbit. President Gore and much of Congress have quietly been moved to safe locations. Mail has been suspended, the TV and radios stations have been seized, there's a National curfew and a State of Martial Law, many cities are being evacuated as we speak, citizens being relocated to compounds in the country. And as you saw, it did not end so well."

"So what the heck do we do?" Britney asked.

Sheen thought about it. "I think we only have one choice. One chance to stop the war, save Jimmy, and bring back Cindy. No offense Britney. We stopped Nazi Germany, we must stop the Soviet Union."

--

Thanks for reading and comments very welcome! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Snazzo


	12. Chapter 12

Consequences, Chapter 12

By Snazzo

* * * *

WARNING: Parts of this chapter contain some mature themes and profanity.

* * * *

Britney was silent a moment. "What will happen to me?"

"I'm not sure," Sheen answered. "I suspect you'll go back to being just a casual friend."

"And what of me and Jimmy?" Britney asked quietly.

"You'll be just friends, Britney," Sheen answered.

Britney hung her head, then turned away. After an awkward pause she said "Isn't there another way SheenBean?"

"Not that I can see, Britney," Sheen said. "And I put a 300 IQ to serious thought."

"I understand, Sheen," Britney said, and sighed. "If … if you'll excuse me a second, guys, I think I need a little Alone Time. I'm going to the Little Scientist's Room."

Sheen watched Britney walk away. "Take your time, Britney, we do have a time machine after all."

After Britney was gone Libby said "I still can't believe Jimmy would fall for Britney!"

"Aw, Britney isn't so bad," Carl said. "I can't believe she dated me though! But I gotta ask what she asked, Sheen. Isn't their another way? Stopping the evil Nazis is one thing, but stopping the Soviet Union seems another bad step. They're our friends now."

"Not now, Carl," Sheen said. "We've hated each other for half a century."

"How do we stop the Soviet Union then?" Libby asked. "I don't know much about them."

"I still don't like it," Carl said.

"Carl," Sheen explained. "We never got to it in Miss Fowl's class and we may not, but Stalin was almost as terrible as Hitler. He slaughtered hundreds of his own people; anyone who disagreed with him or threatened him. People sent to die in the gulags. There was mass famine because of corruption and ineptness. The Great Purge slaughtered thousands. The secret police were everywhere. It was a dictatorship of cruel brutality. The world will be better off without Stalin. … I think."

"YOU THINK?" Libby asked.

"I'm sorry, Libs, but the causalities and ramifications are becoming really convoluted. Both myself and Vox are having a hard time determining the effects of tampering with History. Maybe Jimmy could figure it out, but I can't."

"So how do we stop the Soviet Union?" Libby asked again. "Eliminate Stalin like we did Hitler?"

"No, I don't think that will work. Nature abhors a vacuum. And so does Power. If Stalin wasn't there I believe someone else would take his place, Lenin or Trotsky perhaps. I believe we must take action not only to stop the creation of the USSR, but better off the people of Russia. It will mean a Tsar in Russia, but that should be preferable." Sheen brought some data and images up on Vox's screen. "Many of Tszar Nicholas the Second's problems began with what was known as Bloody Sunday. On January 22, 1905 in Saint Petersburg, unarmed peaceful demonstrators marching to present a petition to Tsar were gunned down by the Imperial Guard. This even, I believe, would eventually lead to the Russian Revolution."

"Kinda like the Boston Massacre leading to the American Revolution?" Carl asked.

"Well, yes, kinda. I propose we go there first and stop Bloody Sunday from ever occurring, then confront the Tsar and reason with him, try to get him to modernize Russia and take better care of his people. If there wasn't so much unrest, they wouldn't be prone to revolt."

"Well, you're the genius Sheen," Carl said.

"Where is Britney?" Libby asked. "I better go and check on her. We are supposed to be best friends, after all, and this is a bad blow." Libby limped away.

"Sheen?" Carl asked. "Are my parents all right? Can we stop and see them before we go? I miss my Mom."

"Carl, we'll see them soon. Relatively speaking. How would we explain you're blind? Let's correct this situation first and then you really will see them, with your own eyes. But yes, they are fine. Only they've been relocated to an evacuation center out near Sally's Farm and Rodeo. As have the Neutrons, the Folfaxes, and my family."

"Sheen!" Libby came limping back. "I don't know where Britney went!"

"Goddard," Sheen said. "Locate Britney." A hand instantly came out of Goddard's back, pointing down into the Garage. The gang went there and found Britney in the TARDIS. "Britney, what are you doing? I thought you went to the bathroom to compose yourself."

"Oh," Britney said, stepping out of the time machine. "I did. But I forgot something in the TARDIS."

"Like what?" Sheen asked.

"SheenBean! That's personal! A feminine product I had in my purse."

"A feminine product?" Carl asked. "What's that?"

"I'll explain later," Sheen said. "It's not important. Let's go." Everyone entered the TARDIS, Sheen programmed the coordinates, and the machine took off.

"A feminine product?" Libby whispered to Britney. "You're only 11 years old!"

"Some of us are early, Libs," Britney whispered back. "You know that!"

Suddenly the TARDIS lurched. Red lights lit up all across the dashboard and alarms began to sound. Rather than a near instantaneous flash of time travel, they seemed to be traveling down a tube of blue light and swirling stars. "Something's wrong!" Sheen cried. He wrestled with the controls and began to stab at the buttons.

"What's happening?" Libby yelled.

"There's been a flux of tachyons injected into the reactor!" Sheen shouted, his hands flying over the controls. "The CPU has become faulty, it looks like we've had a TTRS failure, somehow the temporal injectors have frozen up!"

"In English Sheen!" Libby yelled.

"We're out of control!" Sheen said. "It's as if ---" Sheen's eyes suddenly widened, he turned about and grabbed Britney by the wrists. "Britney!! You did this!! What have you done?!?!?"

Britney looked defiant. "I won't let you destroy what Jimmy and I have, Sheen," she said. "Love is worth fighting for, worth dying for!"

"Britney!! My God!" Sheen exclaimed. "You may have doomed us all! You can't let mankind be wiped out just for you!"

"Oh yes I can Sheen!" Britney said. "It'll be worth it to spend the rest of my life with Jimmy!"

"Oh sweet Jesus!" Sheen cried. "Guys! Whatever you do, wherever you go, WHENEVER you go, don't –" then Sheen blinked out of existence, leaving the TARDIS tumbling.

"Britney!" Libby said angrily. "What happened?!? What did you do?"

Britney looked at Libby. "I'm sorry, Libs, we _were_ good friends. You know what it's like to be in love. I wish I could have sent you and Sheen somewhere together, but I just didn't have time to program the computer."

Libby blinked out of existence.

"Britney?" Carl asked. "What's going on? I can't see a thing. What happened to Sheen and Libby? Did you knock them out?"

"No, Carl," Britney explained. "I sent them away. I need the TARDIS. I can't repair the world's timeline, but I can repair my own."

Goddard growled at Britney, then yelped, and disappeared.

"How do you know anything about time travel Britney?" Carl asked. "Or how to drive the TARDIS at all?"

"I'm not just a ditzy blond, Carl," Britney said. "What's more, Book Gum. "_Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Ti_me" and "_Issac Asimov's Complete Guide to Temporal Mechanics_."

"I'm frightened," Carl whimpered.

"Don't be, Carl," Britney said gently. "We were almost in love, you and I. I did have time to program your destination, I think you'll like it."

"Where am I going?"

"You mean when am I going?" Britney corrected. She leaned over and kissed Carl gently on the lips. He blinked out of existence. Britney took the steering wheel into her hands, looked at Jimmy nearby still in a coma, and dropped the TARDIS back into Normal Time.

* * * *

"Sheen?" Libby called into the darkness. "Britney?" Libby listened carefully. She could hear frogs and crickets. The air was warm and humid, with a threat of rain. Damn that Britney! Libby didn't see that one coming. Now things were really in a mess.

Libby took out her cell phone. NO SIGNAL the phone said. She put it back in her pants.

Libby began to walk carefully through the darkness. She seemed to be in a forest. She moved slowly, because of her injury, with her hands out in front of her. The moon was out high in the sky, but it was only a slim crescent and clouds were moving in.

Libby saw a few lights in the distance and began to walk toward them. "Hello?" she called into the darkness. The lights began to move in her direction. Flickering light, she saw as they approached, as if they were torches.

"Hello?" Libby called again. "Can you help me, I'm lost!"

"Well, howdy there, young one," said a man appearing out from the darkness. He had a heavy southern accent and held a torch in his hand. Three other men followed behind him, one of them also had a torch. "Who do you belong to and what are you doing out here in the darkness?"

"I'm lost," Libby repeated, and then hesitated. Did this man just ask who she belonged to?

"I don't think she's one of Magnolia's," a second man said.

"Well she sure ain't what we're looking for," a third man said. "If she's a 6 foot tall bald N-Word I'm chicken shit."

"WHAT?!?!" Libby cried out angrily. "Who the hell are you people?"

The first man with the torch stepped towards Libby then smacked her hard across the face. Libby fell to the ground then looked up in horror. "Don't you get uppity with me, girl, or I'll whip the skin off your body," the man said angrily.

"Shee-oot," the fourth man said. "This here Lincoln fellow gets elected and these here N-Words done already think they're free."

Oh no! Libby thought to herself. No! It can't be! Damn time travel!

Libby swallowed her pride, looked down at the ground, and said "I'm so sorry, sir. It won't happen again. I's a good girl."

"That's better," the man said.

"Should I haul out the cuffs Daniel?" the other man with the torch said, jingling a sack he held, which sounded of clanking metal.

"I's no be running," Libby said. "I'm lost, like I says. I just want to go home."

"Naw, Sam," Daniel said. "This one had a limp, didn't ya see? She won't be running anywhere. 'specially if she knows what's good for her."

Libby labored to her feet. No one offered to help her. "Beggin' your pardon, sirs, but where is I? And what's today's date?"

"Shit, Daniel," a man said. "You done smacked her too hard. You know they're no good if they're broken."

"You're in Charelston, South Carolina," Daniel said. "And we're taking you back to Magnolia and sees if anyone there knows you. It's December 15th, 1860."

The Civil War, Libby thought to herself miserably. What was she going to do?

* * * *

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a good Holiday, wherever you be.

-As always, thanks for reading, and comments and reviews very much welcome and appreciated.


	13. Chapter 13

Consequences, a Jimmy Neutron Time Travel Epic

By Snazzo

Chapter Thirteen

* * * *

Sheen looked about him. It was bright and warm and he seemed to be in a desert. "Libby? Carl? Goddard? … Britney?" No answer. That Britney!! How could she do this to them, do this to all the world? What was he going to do? What would happen to History, to the Future?

Sheen sat on a rock and thought. Britney had the TARDIS. He would have to get it back, but how? The TARDIS was alien technology, he didn't think he could build one. But ah – the Quantum Replay! Jimmy was able to build one from Jurassic technology, he might be able to build one himself, he knew the basic principles.

But Sheen also knew his genius would end soon. And then he'd go back to being a hyperactive nerd. Sheen was as always wearing his Ultralord Utility Belt. He took out his Ultralog and his Ultrapen and began to scribble frantically. After a few minutes he had the schematics for the Quantum Replay written down, and a note to himself as well. He carefully put the Ultralog and pen back into his belt, and set out to look for parts.

He walked a toward a small hill to get a lay of the land. Beyond the hill he found a row of telephone poles along a railway track and a road. Judging from the quality of the wires and railway spikes, Sheen thought he might be somewhere in the Western United States, perhaps somewhere in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The Old West. Sheen decided to "Go West Young Man" and followed the railway. The sky was lightening now, the stars were fading, but he had been able to see the North Star before it was too bright out so he knew which was was West.

After an hour of walking Sheen heard horses and a wagon behind him. He considered hiding but decided he needed information, and a ride to the nearest civilization would be good too. Sheen stood near the side of the road looking back at an approaching dust cloud. "Howdy, pardners!" Sheen said as the wagon appeared.

"Whoa!" the driver said and the horses came to a halt. Two men sat in the wagon and stared at Sheen.

"Howdy yourself, stranger," one finally said. "And you sure is strange."

"You look like you got that shirt off a dead Chinese!" the other said, and both laughed.

"I mean you no harm!" Sheen said.

"I don't reckon you could harm us much, sonny, without no guns like," the first man said. "How'd you come to be way out here all by yourself with nary a hat or pack?"

"It is a complicated story," Sheen said. "But fascinating." Sheen was thinking up an elaborate lie already. "I'd love to tell it to you in the nearest town, over a cold glass of chocolate milk – I mean chocolate whiskey. Regular whiskey! My treat." Sheen knew he had a couple bucks in his pocket and things would be a lot cheaper here in the Past.

"You look a little young to drink, sonny," the man said, "But I reckon that's a deal."

"In any event, you don't want to be out here in the sun too much now," the second man said, "The sun plays funny tricks on a man's mind if he gets too much of it. You don't want to get desert fever."

"Prolonged exposure can cause many problems," Sheen agreed, "from dehydration to sunburn but I don't think – think –" Sheen's eyes glazed over and a goofy expression came to his face. "Hey!" He suddenly said. "Have I ever shown you my Loopy Dance?"

"No, I can't say you have."

"I'm Loopy! Loopy!" Sheen said, waving his arms about. His brain had drained.

"I don't know, Ike," the man said, "Maybe that desert fever is catching."

"Naw, Tom, it tain't," Ike answered. "He just needs some water. We can't leave him out here anyhow. We'll take him into Tombstone."

* * * *

The TARDIS landed gently in the jungle. Britney stepped out and smiled. She knew this place well.

"Warning! Warning!" the TARDIS said. "Paradox Prohibitors disabled! Multiple paradoxes occurring!" Britney silenced the alarm. She had disabled the Paradox Prohibitors herself. She struggled to get Jimmy out of the TARDIS and made him comfortable beneath a tree. She slipped off his watch and put it on her slender wrist. She then took out the Shrink Ray and aimed it at the TARDIS, shrinking it down to a Matchbox, and put it in her pocket.

Britney made her way through the leafy trees and then paused, peering ahead of her. She sighed with contentment. In front of her, in a small clearing on the beach, Jimmy and Britney sat on a log in front of a fire. She listened carefully, though she knew the conversation word for word.

"Oh, Jimmy, wasn't this the best day ever?" her younger self said. The Young Britney was not wearing pigtails; her hair had become a mess when they fell into the ocean and even the fish comb couldn't restore the pigtails. Her pink blouse was torn.

"You mean not counting the time NASA let me use the Magellan telescope to view the convergence of the Trillium and Crab nebula?" the other Jimmy asked.

"Uh huh," Britney nodded.

"Definitely."

Both Britneys sighed with contentment. "And to think," the other Britney said, "We get to do this every day. No more homework, or chores, or mean people. Just you and me and all the time in the world."

"Britney, I got you a present," the Younger Jimmy said.

"A present? On a deserted island? But how?" Jimmy handed Britney an oyster. "Oh. A clam," Britney said. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, I prefer shrimp. Clams usually make me sick to my stomach."

Jimmy smiled. "It's not a clam, it's am oyster, and you're supposed to open it."

Britney opened it and squealed "A pearl!! Oh Jimmy! It's beautiful!"

Watching her past, Britney touched the pearl hanging about her neck.

"Aw, it's nothing really," Jimmy said. "While you were gathering fruit I decided to open up a few oysters, a 137 actually."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Britney said, smiling at Jimmy with her big blue eyes. As the two of them reached for each other a beam shot of the jungle, hitting Jimmy in the chest and turning him into a giant ice cube. Britney jumped to her feet. "Jimmy! Jimmy!! What happened?!" she cried in horror.

Older Britney came out of the woods. "Calm down, Britney, everything will be all right in a minute."

Younger Britney gasped. "You! YOU! You're – you're me!"

Older Britney nodded. "I am from the future."

"What did you do to Jimmy?" Younger Britney sobbed, putting her hand on the ice. "Is he going to be okay?."

"Yes, in a minute," Older Britney answered, undoing her pigtails. "But first, I'm going to need your clothes. Jimmy can't see me like this, he's a genius. He'll figure something is wrong."

"My clothes!!" Younger Britney cried. "But then I'll be naked!"

"There's no one to see you here, Britney, but that monkey and he doesn't mind."

Younger Britney shook her head. "No! There's something wrong with you, Britney. I don't like the way you're looking at me. You shouldn't be here!"

"Fine," Older Britney said. "This won't hurt." She shot the freeze beam at Younger Britney and she too turned into a chunk of ice. Using the laser now, she carefully cut away the ice until she could get the clothing off of herself. It wasn't an easy task. She changed clothes so she now LOOKED like her younger self. She took her pearl on the golden chain and put it in her pocket, she couldn't let Jimmy see that. Then she took the pearl from Younger Britney's clasped hand. Two pearls from Jimmy! She smiled to herself. Maybe she could make earrings instead of a necklace now.

Older Britney lifted her wrist and spoke to the TARDIS still shrunk within her pocket. "TARDIS. Initialize and enable Paradox Protocols for Britney Diana Stevens."

"Confirmed," came the TARDIS's response.

"This is for the best," Britney said, touching her Younger Self on her frozen cheek. Her Younger Self began to fade, just like the multiple people had faded near the German Prison.

Now she was alone with two Jimmys. She briefly smiled to herself. That presented some wonderful possibilities. If only she were older. But no, now she had to get Jimmy back to normal, and convince him to stay on the island for the rest of their lives.

Or if that didn't work, she knew Younger Libby, Carl, and Sheen would be showing up in the hovercar in about two days. She could intercept them, even sink the craft, and then there would be no way to get off the island at all.

Even when the nuclear war occurred in a year, she knew the island would be safe from attack and fallout. They could live out their lives, perhaps even restore civilization. Wouldn't that be cool? Jimmy and Britney, the new Adam and Eve.

* * * *

That's it for now. Sorry I've been so long in writing, but I've been busy. I won't forget about this though.

As always, comments and reviews welcome. And thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


	14. Chapter 14

Consequences Chapter Fourteen

By Snazzo

* * * *

Carl stood helplessly and shaking with fear. He couldn't see a thing! The air was cool, almost thin, and there was a strong wind blowing.  
"B-Britney?" he asked. "Sheen? Libby? Goddard?" No answer.

Carl sat down sadly on a rock. All alone, no idea where or when he was. No idea how long he would stay blind. His sight did seem to have improved just a little bit. Instead of a great white and red pulsating light he could almost see a few vague shadows here and there, but it still hurt. If only his mother was there to pat his stomach and say "Nonny nonny nonny" he would feel better.

Carl heard movement behind him and jumped up. "Who's there?" … It was coming closer! Carl couldn't run, not without tripping, and he couldn't hide. "I'm warning you," Carl tried to be brave. "I'm armed and dangerous! I-I … I have a bazooka!"

Whatever it was stopped just in front of him. He could hear something breathing and he seemed to sense something large in front of him. Suddenly Carl yelped as he felt something wet on his check. Something had licked him!! Carl was just about to sprint away, heedless of whatever he might run into, whatever he might trip over, when he hesitated. He put out his hands and felt fur. That smell! That touch! He knew it anywhere!

A Llama!

"Oh Llama! It's so good to see a friend! It's been such a bad day. Or couple days. Or week. I don't know, this time travel is so confusing." Carl said, petting the creature.

Suddenly a hand grasped his wrist and Carl yelped with surprise and tried to run again. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"It's all right," a gentle female voice answered. "I won't hurt you. But you do look hurt. Can I help?"

Carl calmed a little bit but was still trembling. Then he realized the girl wasn't speaking English, she was speaking something similar to Quechua, the language of the Incas. Being President of the Llama Lover's Society, he and Vice President Elke Elkberg had decided to learn Quechua so they could talk to Llama's in their own ancient tongue. They found an online course called "Quechua in 300 Easy Steps." It was rough going, Carl could hardly speak English well, but he did it for his love of Llamas. And for Elke too, who was a great help as they chatted online. The Llamas at the zoo did seem to enjoy it, perhaps remembering their ancient masters, and he and Elke had then met many actual Quechua speakers over the Internet in South America, still living up in the mountains with the Llamas. He could very well BE in South America then, Carl thought.

"Who are you?" Carl asked.

"My name is Arianna," the girl answered. "Who are you? You look more whiter than the others, and much differently."

"My name is Carl Wheezer," Carl answered. "Wait! There are others like me about?" Maybe it was Sheen or Libby!

"Yes," Arianna answered. "More like you than like me. I have not seen them myself but father has told me of them; tall white men with black hair on their chins, wearing shining armor. They carry sticks that shoot fire and some ride great beasts." Arianna paused. "What's that on your head?"

Carl put his hand to his head. "What? What do you mean? My hair? Is it messed up? An atomic bomb will do that to a guy's hair, I think. I'm just thankful my hair didn't melt or something."

"No, not your hair. Your hair is orange and very unusual, unlike any I have seen," Arianna said. Carl felt his glasses taken off. "These things. They look like jewels worn on the nose, or ice but they're not cold."

"Oh those. My glasses. They help me see. Well, not now, but when I'm not blind."

"You cannot see?" Arianna asked, putting Carl's glasses back on his nose.

"No," Carl shook his head.

"Then I must take you to my village, to the doctor. We must tend to you. The healing baths there may aid you as well. Come, let us ride."

The girl helped Carl up onto a Llama and then they began to move. Carl felt he should be more scared like he usually was in Adventures, especially with things being such a mess and no knowing where his friends were, but the Llamas were a great comfort. As was Arianna.

"How far away is your village?" Carl asked.

"Not far at all. Five days travel, perhaps. I was visiting my grandmother in Chachapoyas and she sent me back with some coffee that father likes so well. I was riding over the pass when I saw you," Arianna paused again, and then she said "I saw you appear, Carl Wheezer. You came out of a ball of light. I have never seen anything like it before."

"It is pretty whacky, isn't it?" Carl said.

"Carl Wheezer, are you a god?" Arianna asked.

"What?" Carl asked in amazement.

"Some of my friends say the Silver Men are gods. But my father says they are only men, evil men, for they eat and they destroy and they take women."

Carl was silent a moment. He and Elke had studied Llama History. It was possible, he thought, that Arianna was referring to Spain's conquest of South America. Elke was much better at history than he was, but some of what Arianna said sounded familiar. "Um, Arianna, where is your father? WHO is your father?"

"Emperor Atahualpa," Arianna answered. "He is waiting for me in Cajamarca. The Silver Men are coming to meet him and he is waiting for them with the Army."

The Emperor! Carl was amazed. Atahualpa was the Last Emperor of the Incan Empire. Any Llama lover knew that! Cajamarca was a battle … not a battle a massacre! A small group of Spainards led by Pizarro wiped out several thousand unarmed Incan soldiers, wiped out the Emperor's Honor Guard, and captured the Emperor himself. Atahualpa was ransomed for literally tons of gold and silver, then executed all the same. THIS event was then end of the Incan Empire.

"Carl Wheezer, are you okay?" Arianna asked.

Jimmy had led them into the past to stop Hitler, stop World War Two. That was a great evil … but so was this! The destruction of a whole way of life, the destruction of an Empire by evil and greed, total genocide! Not only that THE worst Llama massacre in recorded history. The Spaniards preferred horses, though they only had a few, and they liked the taste of Llama. Jimmy would want Carl to do something about that, wouldn't he? Maybe that's what Britney meant when she said she was sending him somewhere he'd like.

He also thought about the movie Ghostbusters; "When someone asks if you are a god YOU SAY YES!"

Carl gulped hard, then said "Yes, Arianna, I am a god. Your father is in terrible danger. We must reach him as quickly as possible."

Arianna was silent. "Then it shall be done, Lord Carl Wheezer," Arianna answered.

"You can just call me Carl, Arianna," Carl said with a smile.

"Of course, Lord Carl," Arianna answered.

* * * *

Goddard looked around. He did not recognize his location, he seemed to be in someone's bedroom, a very fancy bedroom with a covered four poster bed and fine furniture made of rich wood. Goddard's sensor array came out and did a sweep. He could not locate Jimmy or the others anywhere within range. There were no WiFi portals available. Radiation levels were normal so he must be sometime before the war, perhaps even before the Atomic Age. There was radio communication but he could detect no visual images in the air and very few audio waves; the only audio he could detect was sporadic, weak, and not even speech. It seemed to be a series of impulses.

In the future Goddard never had to put up a disguise but because Jimmy had made him use one in their excursions into the past, he activated a holographic program. One of his favorites: a cute shaggy schnauzer with a big wet nose. His decoder then recognized the radio transmissions; they were in code, Morse code.

Morse code was a series of radio dots and dashes used to represent letters and the code was used before the ability to transmit speech was invented. Goddard heard: "SS CALIFORNIAN TO ALL SHIPS. STOPPED FOR ICE FIELD AT …"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I'M WORKING CAPE RACE!" came a louder radio response.

Goddard went out of the bedroom, through a very lovely sitting room, and out into a fancy hall.

"I say!" came a voice. "Look! What are you doing here, ol' boy?"

Goddard saw three men and a woman dressed in very fine clothing; tuxedos for the men and a brilliant silver gown for the blond woman. Goddard barked and wagged his tail.

"Isn't he the cutest things?" the woman said. "Do you think he's one of the Mister Moore's foxhounds?"

"No, I don't believe so dear. But we can't very well have him wandering about the halls, can we, what? Oh steward!" The gentleman held up a finger.

A young boy in a uniform hurried up the hall to them. "Yes sir?"

"I believe we have a lost dog here," the man pointed at Goddard.

"Very good sir. I'll take care of him, don't worry." The steward picked Goddard up and Goddard licked his face. Then Goddard saw the writing upon the steward's cap and yelped with surprise.

RMS TITANIC

Goddard had never been programmed with time travel protocols, Jimmy never foresaw any need to. Goddard didn't think any consequences upon the future, only about saving lives. He leapt from the steward's arms to the floor and began to bark. He ran to the end of the hall and looked back at the people looking at him, still barking.

"I do believe that pup wants us to follow him!" one of the men said.

"Well we can't very well have him barking like that," another noted. "He'll wake up the whole ship! Lead on, Rover!"

The group trotted behind Goddard as he made his way to the ship's deck. He hurried to the bow of the ship and looked straight ahead. The sea was smooth as glass, the stars brilliant, and the sky dark. There was no moon.

"Oh, it's so cold out here!" the woman said, hugging herself.

"What is it boy?" one of the men asked. "There's nothing out there!"

Goddard barked again and pointed straight ahead with his nose.

The group looked into the darkness. "What are we looking for?"

"Oh, come now," another man said. "Let's head back to the lounge for a warm brandy and then off to bed."

Goddard decided to pull out all the stops. A giant hand came out of his back and a finger pointed directly ahead. The people gasped.

"EGAD!!" one man cried. The woman gasped and swooned into another man's arms.

"How on earth did you do that?!?!" a third man demanded.

A second hand came out of Goddard's back and he held up the Neutroscope.

"A pair of binoculars," the steward said. "I heard from the Lookouts that we couldn't find any binoculars after we left port." He put the Neutroscope to his eyes and Jimmy's super technology zoomed the view forwards a thousand times. Directly ahead was a dark gray mass coming towards the Titanic fast; an iceberg.

"Jesus Christ!" the steward exclaimed.

"Such language!" a man declared. "I shall report you to the Head Steward! What's your name, boy?"

But the steward handed over the Neutroscope and dashed to the Bridge, Goddard at his heels. Two of the First Class Passengers followed; one gentleman stayed behind to tend to the lady.

The Steward barged into the Bridge.

"What's this? Witter! What's the meaning –"

"Ice berg sir!" Steward Witter cried. "Right ahead!

First Officer William Murdoch didn't question where the steward had discovered his information; the look upon his face was enough to know he was not kidding. "Hard a-starboard!"

Quartermaster Hitchens spun the ship's wheel. "Answering Hard a-starboard sir!"

"Full Speed Astern!"

"Full Speed Astern sir!"

"Close the watertight doors!"

"Closing watertight doors sir!"

The phone on the bridge rang and Murdoch picked it up. "What did you see?"

"Iceberg right ahead!" came the lookout's voice.

"Thank you, we know," Murdoch said and hung up.

Now the iceberg was clearly visible, looming up out of the darkness, a huge mass glistening in the starlight approaching at 22 knots. Slowly it began to move to the right, to port, and then passed by.

"Blimey that was close!" Quartermaster Hitchens exhaled. "I could have reached out and touched that berg!"

"You're right about that!" one of the gentlemen added. "I could have chipped some ice for a cool drink, though I still prefer a warm brandy."

A stern look came across Mister Murdoch's face. "Steward Witter, would you be so good as to fetch Captain Smith? Tell him it's a matter of utmost importance to the ship's security and safety."

"Yes sir!" Witter said and dashed off.

"Mister Kelly, give us Full Stop on the engines. I do not want to risk any further incidents tonight."

"Answering Full Stop sir!"

Steward Witter returned quickly with Captain Smith. "What is it, Mister Murdoch? Why have we stopped?"

"Sir," Mister Murdoch answered. "We came dangerously close to hitting an ice berg. I do not believe we should be in these waters at Full Speed."

"Mister Ismay desires that we break the speed record, Mister Murdoch, and arrive a day early in New York," Captain Smith said. "He does sign our checks and it would be a glorious arrival for the ship."

"Captain," one of the gentlemen spoke up, "I would rather arrive a tad late than not arrive at all!"

"Hear hear!" his companion said. "It truly was frightening. My heart was in my throat. Who knows what could have happened if we had collided with that berg? We might have been seriously damaged and had to wait to be towed to New York. That would have made a poor show, what? And on our maiden voyage as well!"

The Captain rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "Mister Ismay was quite determined to continue at Full Speed Ahead," he said. "But he IS asleep at present and I did not feel comfortable with his – ah – recommendations. Very well, let us wait here until dawn. Signal the Engine Room to cool down the engines but have them prepared for Full Speed prior to dawn. Vent steam if necessary. If Mister Ismay awakes, I shall take full responsibility for this."

"Very good, Sir," Mister Murdoch said.

"It is no big deal, Captain," one of the gentlemen said. "Mister Ismay should be proud of this ship. Would he rather have us a little late to New York City or row into the New York Harbor in lifeboats?"

"That would be a very long voyage indeed, Mister Thayer," the Captain laughed. "But you needn't worry about things going as bad as that. Even if we had grazed that berg, God himself could not sink this ship. Now if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I think I must thank the Lookouts for their timely warning."

"The Lookouts did give warning, Captain," Mister Murdoch said. "But Steward Witter and Mister Thayer here were aware of the berg before that."

"How is that possible?" the Captain asked.

"It is indeed strange," Mister Thayer said. "It is thanks to this little dog here, who is unlike any dog I have ever encountered. He might very well be an automaton, though how he came to be here is beyond me."

Goddard, who had been ignored until the danger passed, barked and wagged his tail.

"I see," Captain Smith said. "Steward Witter, fetch Mister Moore, the Master of Hounds. I wish to see if any of our four-legged friends are astray this night." The Captain bent over and picked Goddard up. Goddard licked his face. "And you, my fine friend, might have saved the White Star Line's reputation. Perhaps you'd like a midnight snack before we figure out who you belong to?"

Goddard nodded his head. "If no one claims you, I'll gladly put you up for the rest of the voyage. A talented dog like that might be full of surprises!" Goddard suddenly struggled in the Captain's arms. "What is it boy? What's wrong?" Goddard gulped hard then dropped a couple lug nuts onto the metal floor. Goddard hung his head with embarrassment.

"Egad!" Mister Thayer said with a gasp. "Full of surprises indeed!"

* * * *

There it is for now. Comments and reviews VERY welcome. History is getting a bit messed up, what? As Stephen Hawking once said "Meddle not in the affairs of time, for it can be one whacky confusing mess."

Sorry it's been so long since an update, but I've been a tad busy. See ya!


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